Canadians are continuing to boycott American vacations, and they’re turning to the sunny beaches of Mexico instead.
Many Canadians have enthusiastically joined a boycott of American goods and services following President Donald Trump’s tariffs on Canadian goods and threats to annex the country into the ’51st state.’
Canadians have long been the top international travelers to the US, driving $20.5 billion in spending last year.
But Canadian air travel to the US dropped by 13.5 percent in March compared to a year earlier, and those crossing the border by car fell by more than 30 percent, data from Statistics Canada revealed.
By contrast, Canadian visits to Mexico rose by 15.6 percent in March compared to the same month last year, according to the Mexican Secretary of Tourism.
‘I think they are choosing more friendly policies,’ Mexico’s tourism secretary Josefina Rodríguez Zamora told the Financial Times.
Rodríguez said the recent turmoil created by the US has made Canada and Mexico – who always had a strong relationship – ‘more like brotherhood.’
Mexicans are also pulling back on travel to America, with flights down by almost a quarter last month compared to 2024, according to the US Department of Commerce.
Canadians are choosing destinations such as Cancún over Palm Springs in California
Travel adviser McKenzie McMillan told the FT his clients plan to swap their beach holidays in California and Florida for Cancún and Cabo as long as Trump is in the White House.
McMillan said the trend is likely to continue as the Canadian boycott of the US is ‘only intensifying.’
The shift has led vacation hotspots such as Palm Springs to run campaigns to try and lure back the Canadian visitors businesses depend on.
Airlines have been forced to switch tack by cutting flights to US destinations and increasing frequency to Mexican alternatives.
Air Canada reported on Friday that its Canada to US routes have seen a 7 percent drop in the first quarter of the year.
In response, the airline has cut back its earnings expectations for the whole year and announced a new nonstop flight to Guadalajara.
The Montreal-based company said it would also increase the frequency of its flights to destinations such as Los Cabos and Puerto Vallarta over the winter.
Many Canadians, known as snowbirds, once headed to warmer climates such as Florida and California for a reprieve from the harsh winters of the Great White North.
Palm Springs, a desert oasis in Coachella Valley, has become growingly concerned that the US’ strained relationship with Canada will impact the city’s tourism industry
Palm Springs has made its pro-Canada stance abundantly clear by hanging signs throughout the downtown area and airport
During his second presidential term, Donald Trump has been particularly vocal about his plans to absorb Canada as an American state
However, disillusionment with their southern neighbors has even led some Canadians to sell their dream US vacation homes.
Canadian users booked 27 percent more stays in Mexico on Airbnb between March 2024 and March 2025.
Meanwhile bookings in the US from Canadians using the short-term let platform saw a 12 percent drop.
‘Visitation to the United States is tacit approval of their policies,’ one Canadian who recently cancelled a trip to the US wrote on Reddit.
‘Why would I spend my dollars supporting a hostile regime that aims to destroy the lives of me and my family?’
Another boycotter wrote: ‘I am only too pleased to help contribute to the steep decline in their tourism industry, whatever the state or region may have voted for.’
‘It’s cheaper to go to Mexico most of the time,’ a third agreed.
