As we scour the economic data for the impact of the trade war, the latest numbers on travel suggest Canadians are pulling back on visits to the United States.

The number of Canadians returning from the U.S. by air and road was 27% lower in March from the same month last year. This is not surprising given the low Canadian dollar (the exchange rate in March averaged just 70 cents) and “buy Canadian” sentiment in the wake of U.S. trade policy. A recent Leger poll found that nearly half of Canadians are less likely to visit the U.S. in 2025.

What is perhaps surprising given the exchange rate is a drop in U.S. visitors to Canada in March, which was down 8% compared to the year before. Plunging consumer confidence in the U.S. may help explain the reduction in the number of Americans traveling to Canada.

Arrivals to Canada from countries other than the U.S. were also significantly lower in March at 17% below the number of visitors in March 2024.

March was still early days of the trade war so we may see the trend toward fewer Canadians visiting the U.S. intensify when we get the April data.

If more Canadians continue to stay in Canada, this should provide a boost to the Canadian tourism sector as a portion of what would have been spent in other countries is spent in Canada. On the other hand, if fewer Americans and other foreign tourists come to Canada, as happened in March, this will have the opposite effect.

Answer to the previous trivia question: According to the CIA World Factbook, the total area (land and water) of China is 9,596,960 square kilometres.

Today’s trivia question: What is the busiest airport in North America?