Canadians taking trips to the US has dropped by around a third in reaction to heightened border checks, anti-tariff patriotism and the economic situation in Canada

The number of Americans visiting Canada has overtaken the number of Canadians making the trip south as Canadians turn against their bigger neighbor in the face of Donald Trump's tariffs.

According to Statistics Canada, this has only happened once before in the last two decades, excluding the Covid-19 pandemic outliers of August and September 2021.

The same trend was observed in June this year, but before that, it hadn't happened since June 2006. The recent shift is largely down to Canadians' heightened sense of patriotism, leading them to avoid traveling to the US due to President Donald Trump's persistent tariffs on goods crossing the border, and his determination to make Canada the 51st state.

In July, higher tariffs were imposed on goods not exempt under the United States-Mexico-Canada free-trade agreement. However, Wayne Smith, director of the Institute for Hospitality and Tourism Research at Toronto Metropolitan University, suggests there were other factors at play.

Canadians were also closely monitoring their country's economy, the arrest of undocumented migrants by US immigration agents, and unfavorable exchange rates. "You put that all together and ... you're going to see a big reduction in tourism as a result," Smith said.

That massive decline represented a 32.4 percent plunge in Canadian-resident return trips from the United States in July. Approximately 2.6 million trips fitting that description occurred, Statistics Canada reported.

Smith believes those who avoided the US likely discovered Canada's attractions instead.

"When people get nervous, they tend to stay closer to home," he said. "They tend to do more drive destinations. They tend to stay more in province and do shorter trips."

Data suggests Americans likely didn't follow the same mindset. Trip numbers to Canada by US residents declined by just 3.0 percent compared with a year ago, reaching nearly 3.3 million.

Some crossed the border because they believed Canada deserved support, while others ignored the geopolitical turmoil entirely, Smith explained.

"It's business as usual for most Americans," he said.

Other countries more than compensated for the decline in travel from US residents.

Statistics Canada reported that overseas residents' trips to Canada in July jumped 10.3 percent from the same month last year.

July arrivals from Europe and Asia both recorded 10.3 percent increases compared with a year ago.

The leading three countries of residence for overseas visitors were the UK followed by France and India.

Canadian-resident return trips from overseas in July rose 8.3 percent compared with a year ago. Smith anticipates July trends will persist when August figures are unveiled.

He noted the real challenge will emerge during colder months, when Canadian snowbirds traditionally migrate to Florida and other balmy US destinations.

"These are people spending tens of thousands of dollars to visit the US and they're doing everyday things like going shopping, grocery shopping and to the doctor, which has a large economic impact," he said.

"If the snowbirds don't decide not to go back ... they're going to feel it pretty heavily."