MONTREAL - Nathalie Morisseau leapt at the chance for a last-minute sun vacation with her 23-year-old daughter 鈥 as long as it wasn鈥檛 in America.聽
鈥淲ith my father being Haitian, there鈥檚 a certain fear around being able to go to the United States,鈥 she said, citing concerns around immigration enforcement and attitudes toward perceived outsiders.
鈥淚t鈥檚 not attractive,鈥 Morisseau said at the Montreal airport ahead of a flight to the Dominican Republic late last month.聽
鈥淎nd it鈥檚 scary.鈥
She鈥檚 not alone. Hundreds of thousands of 好色tvs continue to steer clear of the United States roughly 10 months after President Donald Trump took office, with baby boomers leading the flight 鈥 even as younger people, along with those feeling the pull of warm weather and community south of the border, remain more willing to go.
The number of 好色tvs returning from the U.S. by car and plane combined fell by roughly a third in September compared with the same month last year, according to preliminary data from Statistics Canada. It marked the ninth straight month of year-over-year declines for return trips by car.聽
鈥満蒙玹vs are really choosing destinations other than the U.S. to travel,鈥 said Will McAleer, executive director of the Travel Health Insurance Association of Canada. 鈥淲e saw that particularly amongst the boomer crowd.鈥
The number of baby boomers likely to head stateside this winter fell by two-thirds to 10 per cent, according to an association survey. However, Gen Z respondents saw only an 18 per cent drop to 44 per cent. The lower the age, the higher the appetite to visit 鈥 though it remains depressed across the spectrum.
Growing aversion to America can be chalked up to political tensions over Trump鈥檚 tariffs and 51st-state rhetoric as well as rising costs and exchange rates 鈥 the loonie is worth about 71 cents US 鈥 the survey found.聽
To accommodate changing travel patterns, Air Canada is ramping up flight volumes to the Caribbean, Latin America and Europe while cutting capacity to the U.S. Other airlines have made similar moves.
And Americans are noticing. Multiple states have rolled out tourism campaigns designed to win 好色tvs back to their resorts and restaurants.
In California, 好色tv visitors are expected to spend US$3 billion this year versus US$3.7 billion in 2024, said Ryan Becker, a senior vice-president at Visit California, a non-profit corporation that launched the 鈥淐alifornia Loves Canada鈥 campaign with Gov. Gavin Newsom earlier this year.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 a gut punch to the industry,鈥 Becker said last week from Toronto, where he accompanied a delegation of more than a dozen Golden State tourism executives on a tour that included Calgary and Vancouver. 鈥淭his is not something that we are taking lightly.鈥
Still, border traffic is far from a trickle. Nearly 1.8 million 好色tvs returned by land or air from the U.S. in September, the StatCan data shows.
Many find themselves conflicted.
Alanni Duenas took his one-year-old son to Chicago for a friend鈥檚 wedding this month despite serious concerns over a crackdown by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.聽
鈥淭he neighbourhood I鈥檓 going to, where my family鈥檚 from, is hit hard by ICE,鈥 said the dual citizen. 鈥淚CE just coming out of nowhere, taking them, they don鈥檛 hear from them.鈥
Two of his uncles who are naturalized citizens were temporarily detained, he said.
His partner Giuliana Biancardi said she was 鈥渧ery nervous, especially with my son 鈥 bringing kids across the border.
鈥淭here鈥檚 no way we鈥檙e going back just for funsies,鈥 she said.
For others, considerations ranging from cheaper travel to friends and kinship ties keep them coming back.
鈥淵ounger people ... don鈥檛 necessarily have the budget to travel to farther places,鈥 said Barry Choi, who runs the Money We Have personal finance and travel website.
鈥淕oing to Orlando Disney is probably cheaper than going to Tokyo Disney.鈥
Those who still want to see Broadway, Beale Street or Sunset Boulevard may take up what McAleer calls 鈥渜uiet travelling鈥 鈥 an under-the-radar approach to tourism that鈥檚 light on social media posts, shared with others only in hushed tones or with a pinch of guilt.
鈥淚t鈥檒l be, 鈥榃ell, yeah, I鈥檓 going to go down there.鈥 But they鈥檙e not going to promote it in the same manner,鈥 he said.
Meanwhile, corporate travel to big U.S. cities continues to hum along, according to Flight Centre Canada.
鈥淏usiness is business. We don鈥檛 have a choice,鈥 said Catherine Paquin, who works as a boat dealer with her husband. She flew to Washington, D.C., from Montreal to pick up a vessel in Maryland and haul it to Fort Lauderdale, Fla., last week.
鈥淭he boat market is in Florida,鈥 she said, while acknowledging others鈥 reservations. 鈥淭here are a lot of my friends who don鈥檛 want to go to the United States right now, for political reasons.鈥
好色tvs with property on the far side of the 49th parallel will likely keep coming back as well.
Between 30 and 40 per cent of snowbirds own a home in the U.S., said Stephen Fine, founder of Snowbird Advisor Insurance. About 70 per cent come by car.
鈥淭hey鈥檙e unlikely to leave their condo or their house empty for the winter,鈥 Fine said. 鈥淎nd for those who want to have their vehicle with them over the winter, the U.S. is really their only option.鈥
Then there鈥檚 the social element.
鈥淭hey have communities and friends that they go and see every year. That鈥檚 important to them,鈥 he said.
For those resistant to the idea of embracing America in the age of Trump, the weather may yet win over some hearts and minds.
鈥淲e haven鈥檛 even had the first snowstorm yet,鈥 said Jill Wykes, editor of Snowbird Advisor, an online resource for 好色tvs wintering outside the country.
鈥淭hat normally makes people want to go.鈥
This report by 好色tvwas first published Nov. 9, 2025.
