Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has not said much recently, but the number of Canadians visiting his state has hit a post-pandemic low. The drop was 26 per cent. The Canadian travel boycott is hitting Florida where it hurts: in the pocketbook.
By Sheila Copps
First published in The Hill Times on November 17, 2025.
OTTAWA—Canadians are voting with their feet. And America is not on the ballot.
Ten months into the mandate of United States President Donald Trump, the number of Canadians who visit the U.S. has slumped dramatically.
Just last week, the United States Travel Association reported a 3.2 per cent decline in international tourism spending in their country, for a loss of $5.7-billion compared to the previous year.
Canadians account for approximately 30 per cent of all foreign travel to the U.S., but we are not the only country that is putting the brakes on American tourism.
Canadians have good reason to boycott. In the last 10 months, the American president has threatened our economy, insulted our prime minister, backtracked on trade agreements, and continuously repeated he wants to annex our country.
As for other foreign travellers, the crackdown on migrants carried out by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has sent a global message that people can be rounded up at will.
A Canadian died while in ICE custody recently. Unfortunately, his sad story reflects that of hundreds of others who have been arrested without due process and thrown into detention centres hundreds of kilometres from where they were located.
Canada and the U.S. used to be very proud that we shared the world’s longest open border, defended only by smiles and a few border crossings. Those smiles are gone.
Canadian snowbirds who still visit the U.S. now have to be fingerprinted and registered as aliens.
Likewise, the cost of visiting the U.S. has jumped dramatically for some other international visitors with the introduction of the new $250 “visa integrity fee,” making America one of the most expensive destinations in the world.
When Canadians originally threatened a boycott, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis treated it as a joke, saying that with 3.3 million Canucks visiting his state in 2024, it wasn’t much of a boycott.
During an address to lawmakers in Tallahassee, DeSantis joked that Canadians were all coming down “to get a glimpse of what a Stanley Cup winning hockey team actually looks like.”
But the joke is now on him.
For the first time this year, the U.S. is going to move from a surplus to a deficit when it comes to how much travel money is spent in the country.
The United States Travel Association is predicting a total travel deficit of nearly US$70 billion. Canadians represent almost one-third of the travellers to the U.S., so our boycott is definitely not worth laughing at.
The projected deficit is caused by a 3.2 per cent decline in international tourism spending in the country, a loss that the association attributes largely to the drop in Canadian visitor numbers.
In the latest data from October, the number of Canadians travelling to the states by air dropped 24 per cent, and by land it decreased 30 per cent.
A recent Angus Reid poll surveyed 1,607 Canadians. Some 70 per cent said they were not comfortable travelling to the U.S. Their primary explanations were to stand up for Canada, oppose America’s political climate, and avoid border security concerns.
I was invited a few months ago to participate in a bilateral trade panel at the University of Southern California.
When I declined, citing security reasons, the organizing committee said it was not surprised as other Canadians had bowed out for the same reason.
The refusal to travel to the U.S. has opened up opportunities elsewhere. Statistics Canada recently reported a seven per cent increase in travellers heading to Europe.
Just recently, KLM/Air France announced a 30 per cent hike in their bookings.
Meanwhile, American politicians are doing their best to encourage an end to the boycott.
California Governor Gavin Newsom recently participated in a “California loves Canada” promotional campaign designed to encourage Canadians to reconsider the boycott.
Several governors joined in a recent Canadian tourism trade mission. Some states are offering promotions and “Welcome Canada” rebates in an effort to bring Canadians back.
Meanwhile, American visits to Canada are rebounding. In October, there was a one per cent reduction from 2024 travel in the same time period.
Florida’s DeSantis has not said much recently, but in the second quarter of this year, the number of Canadians visiting his state hit a post-pandemic low. The drop was 26 per cent.
Miami-Dade County has reported that spending by Canadians fell almost 13 per cent.
The Canadian travel boycott is hitting Florida where it hurts: in the pocketbook.
Sheila Copps is a former Jean Chrétien-era cabinet minister and a former deputy prime minister. Follow her on Twitter at @Sheila_Copps.
