In the last few months, both tourism and business travel from Canada have continued to plummet.
Numbers from U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) show that crossings at the northern border fell by 12.5% in February and 18% in March — all amid an atmosphere in which the Trump administration continues to push forward with detentions and deportations at the border while antagonizing Canada with comments about it being the “51st state.”
Travel agency Flight Centre Travel Group Canada published a report showing that business travel from Canada fell by 40% in the first months of 2025. The U.S. Travel Association estimated that even a 10% reduction in Canadian tourism would result in the industry losing 140,000 jobs and $2.1 billion (the actual decrease has already been documented as higher).
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Air Canada scales back on San Francisco routes after earlier cuts to Miami and Washington
The country’s flagship carrier, Air Canada (ACDVF) , has already reduced its flight schedule to the U.S. amid lower demand — affected routes include flights to Washington, Houston, and Miami from Vancouver International Airport (YVR).
“If we can derisk this a little bit and move and be a bit proactive and move capacity into other sectors [where] we see strength, I think that’s the right move right now in this context,” Mark Galardo, Air Canada’s executive vice presidency, revenue and network planning and president of cargo, told investors in March.
Related: Hotels have started giving Canadians anti-Trump discounts
A month later, Air Canada is making further cuts to its U.S. network by scrapping earlier plans to run two daily flights between Montréal–Trudeau (YUL) and San Francisco (SFO) International Airports.
The data was first seen on airline tracker Cirium and reported by aviation website AeroRoutes. Running twice a day between May and October 2024 and even three times a day throughout June, the flight was initially slated to fly according to the same schedule in the upcoming summer.
As things currently stand, the flight will only run once a day, as it had before May 2024.
Air Canada has scaled back on flights as Canadian travel to the U.S falters.
Image source: Shutterstock
Trump denies reduction in tourism, calls it ‘no big deal’
When asked about the impact to the U.S. tourism industry on April 27, Trump told a reporter at the Oval Office that there is “a little nationalism” but it is ultimately “not a big deal.”
Two days later, he sat down for an ABC interview in which he said that “tourism is way up.” Senior National Correspondent Terry Moran, who conducted the April 29 interview with Trump, corrected him over the falsehood on air.
More on travel:
United Airlines places big bet on new flights to trendy destinationGovernment issues new travel advisory on popular beach destinationAnother country just issued a new visa requirement for visitors
A report from Tourism Economics predicts that international travel to the U.S. will drop by 15.2% in 2025, while visits from countries such as Germany and Spain have already fallen by a respective 30% and 25% in March.
“U.S. authorities strictly enforce entry requirements,” Canada’s advisory for travel to the U.S. now explicitly states. “Expect scrutiny at ports of entry, including of electronic devices.”
Countries such as France, Belgium, Finland, Portugal, and the United Kingdom have all issued similar advisories about increased scrutiny when trying to enter the U.S.
Related: Veteran fund manager issues dire S&P 500 warning for 2025
