About 140,000 people are expected to pass through Toronto’s Pearson Airport every day during the busiest days of March’s break, but some Canadians planning to travel to the United States have changed their plans.
Passenger bookings for airlines and travel companies show Canadians are fighting to cancel their trip to the United States.
Ontario travelers said in an interview Thursday that they no longer want to cross the border because they are angry with changing U.S. tariffs and that the Canadian dollar remains relatively weak against green backpacks.
According to Canadian media, Canadian travel agency Flight Center Travel Group said leisure bookings in U.S. cities fell by 40% from the same month in 2024. One in five customers have canceled their trip to the United States in the past three months.
Paris resident Amy and Matthew Gleiser, Ontario, plan to go to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina for March break with their kids. The trip was supposed to last 10 days and the hotel was booked in August. The couple canceled the trip in February and booked a family parade to rest a trip to Mexico.
“With all the tax threats, we hate this constant ‘Canada is a 51st country’, and we just think we really don’t have a conscience and we can go to the United States and spend money and in a country that really hurts us, just like Canadians are hurting our economy now.”
On Tuesday, U.S. President Donald Trump imposed a 25% tariff on Canadian goods and a 10% levied on energy. On Wednesday, he announced a month-long probation for the auto industry. On Thursday, he delayed tariffs on many Canadian goods.
Glaiser said changing travel plans was disappointing, but she said it was the right thing her family did. She added that communities across Canada will be harmed by tariffs.
“It disturbs us, kind of hurts us. Canadians feel hurt. We’re really surprised that there’s no real reason for our economy to be attacked in the United States, except for Donald Trump’s decision to do so.”
“It’s really what we have to do is choose where to spend money, spend money. For Canadian families like us, this is the only fight back.”
“For me, it’s been building,” said Toronto Traveler.
Toronto-based tennis fan Lisa Charters said in an interview that she canceled her trip to Palm Springs, where she intends to watch the BNB Paribas Open, also known as the Indian Wells Open. She decided to cancel the trip, mainly due to weaker loonie, but also due to Trump’s tariffs and anti-Canadian rhetoric.
Her trip was booked in September, but she decided to open her trip to Toronto’s National Bank in August.
“For me, it’s been building.” The charter said, “It’s a big thing. I can’t even imagine Canada will be part of the United States. We’re a completely different country.”
“Canadians are not stopping traveling,” the experts said.
Flight Center spokeswoman Amra Durakovic said Canadians chose to go to places like Mexico, Aruba and St. Lucia, as well as countries where the dollar remains strong, including Japan and Australia.
Durakovic said they also plan to travel “fly and drive” in Canada, where they fly to Canadian destinations and then rent a car to travel.
“Expand your horizons. We think it’s an opportunity. Canadians aren’t stopping traveling. They’re just looking for other destinations,” she said.
Air Canada announced last month that it will start reducing flights to Florida, Las Vegas and Arizona by 10% in March – usually traveling to hot spots during spring break season. In an email, bookings have changed from the U.S. to other sun destinations like Mexico and the Caribbean, West Jets said.
According to airline data company Cirium, the budget airline FLAIR airlines dropped 24% in March from budget operator Flair Airlines. Air Transat flight numbers fell 12%, while Sunwing Airlines canceled all of its flights.
Toronto Pearson spokesman Sean Davidson said 1.31 million people will still travel through the airport during the March break. He said nearly 1,000 flights took off and landed at the airport during the busiest days.
“It will be busy, but we are ready to welcome more than a million people to travel next week,” Davidson said Thursday.
