While Canadian travel to the U.S. has been at continued lows since the start of the current administration’s White House term in 2025, an escalating trade war and Trump’s continued antagonism of the northern neighbor brings the diplomatic relationship between the two countries to a new low.
On Aug. 21, trade negotiations between the two countries fell apart at the last minute with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney saying the U.S. side “asked too much and offered too little” while instructing his officials to return to Ottawa without a deal.
In response, the Trump administration imposed 50% tariffs on $20 billion of Canadian goods to take effect by January 2027 while the Canadian side responded with retaliatory tariffs that will begin immediately on September 8. On Aug. 27, Trump issued an official order to change the name of Lake Ontario between the two countries “Lake America” while calling Canadian officials “nasty people.”
“If you have a choice, please don’t travel to the United States”: Canadian Premier
Amid such an atmosphere, the head of government for one Canadian province has put out a statement telling Canadians to avoid non-essential travel to the U.S. for the time being.
“Obviously, we’ve seen another attack from the United States and again, I’m asking British Columbians, if you have a choice, please don’t travel to the United States,” Premier David Eby said at an Aug. 26 press conference out of a local liquor store that stopped selling American products. “Choose another place to do your tourism. If you can choose a Canadian product instead of an American one, please choose it.”
Related: Canada is warning Native Americans about traveling to the US
The move, Eby told the residents of his province, is meant to both protest Trump’s treatment of Canada and support local businesses that will be hit by the tariffs.
“The best thing that we can do to respond to these tariffs is to build up our workers, build up our trade infrastructure, and be less dependent on the United States,” Eby saidfurther.
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What is Canada’s official guidance for U.S. travel right now
On the federal level, the official Canadian travel guidance keeps the U.S. at the “exercise normal precautions” level but since March 2025 has featured a new section stressing that “U.S. authorities strictly enforce entry requirements” so travelers should “expect scrutiny at ports of entry, including of electronic devices.”
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Since the start of Trump’s second term in the White House and choice to constantly provoke the northern neighbor, the rapid decline in Canadian travel has affected many businesses in border states such as Washington, California and Vermont as well as cities like Las Vegas, which rely heavily on traveler numbers from Canada and Mexico.
“I’m telling everybody in Canada, please come,” Las Vegas Mayor Shelley Berkley said at a September 2025 press conference in which she cited numbers showing that her city saw 400 million fewer monthly visitors that year. “We love you, we need you, and we miss you.”
Related: As Americans flock to Canada, a major travel trend is fully reversed
