But that special relationship is now being tested by Donald Trump’s tariffs and his unprecedented threats to annex Canada by “economic force.”
As a result, nationalism is surging in Canada. And Canadians aren’t just booing the “Star Spangled Banner” at hockey matches, they’re avoiding US products, canceling travel plans, and ditching retirement homes. Even the 1970s comic-book character Captain Canuck is back!
Could this pushback, combined with Americans’ fears about the political climate at home, lead to new opportunities for Canada?
Canadians are already buying fewer American products. Instead, they are buying Canadian where possible. Sales of made-in-Canada goods were up 10% last month at Canadian grocers, and some local businesses in the country reported an overall sales jump of as much as 35%.
Meanwhile, US retailers are complaining about falling revenue from Canada, which buys about $350 billion a year in consumer products from American companies.
Canadians are canceling US travel plans. So far this year, the average number of travelers entering the US from Canada by car has dropped by nearly 15% — from 92,983 per day to 79,407 — compared to last year. In February, cross-border return car trips from Canada into the US fell 23%. In March, the Globe and Mail reported on some American tour operators reporting an 85% decline in bookings, and summer flight bookings to the US are down over 70%.
That sharp drop could hit the US tourism sector hard – Canadian visits translate to roughly $20 billion a year – and it could cost the American economy over $4 billion this year alone. According to travel lobbying groups, Canadian tourism supports 140,000 US jobs.
Even some snowbirds — the 1 million or so Canadian retirees who spend the winter in warmer locations south of the border – are looking for new perches: Rebookings have declined for next year, and some regular visitors are even selling their US homes.
But the drop in US visits is not only about patriotism. There are also growing concerns about the safety of crossing the border as the US expands its use of existing powers to search travelers’ devices and detain people on suspicion of links to illegal activity.
Jamie Liew, a law professor at the University of Ottawa and a migration expert, says the US was always allowed to screen at the border, but the practice has now broadened.
“Before, the US was doing this by targeting certain racialized communities ... What’s different is that it’s now being applied in broad strokes and to a greater number of people no matter who you are.” This, she notes, makes the risk and concern “serious.”
Brain gain for Canada? Since Trump’s return to the White House, American interest in applying for Canadian citizenship has grown, based on increased traffic to websites that provide this information.
Some Canadian provinces and institutions hope to take advantage of these trends as they seek to reverse the long-maligned north-to-south “brain drain.”
And they may have a willing audience: American researchers and public intellectuals, concerned by the political environment or the Trump administration’s cuts in research funding, are looking to leave.
In a recent poll by Nature magazine, for example, 75% of the 1,608 science researchers surveyed said they would consider leaving the US in response to Trump disrupting the science community. One recruiter noted a 63% jump in immigration inquiries from US physicians since he returned to the Oval Office.
There have already been a few notable defections. In late March, Jason Stanley, a Yale University professor and fascism scholar who has sharply criticized the Trump administration, made headlines when he announced he was leaving the US to join the University of Toronto.
Asked by NPRabout his decision, Stanley highlighted the administration’s moves to shutter DEI initiatives and to cut funding for universities over perceptions of antisemitism:
“I have Black Jewish children, and the attacks on DEI are attacks on Black people. … And they’re creating mass popular anger against Jewish people by … setting us up and saying we’re the excuse for taking down democracy. Personally, I’m not going to risk my kids’ safety for a political point.”
Meanwhile, Jen Gunter, a renowned Canadian gynecologistborn in Winnipeg, is returning to Canada after decades in the US, citing “rank misogyny” and the political climate.
Some Canadian institutions are rolling out the red carpet. The University Health Network in Toronto wants to attract at least 100 young scientists from the US. Still, there are questions about whether the Canadian government is adequately funding the sciences: Last year fewer than 1 in 5 scientists were approved for Canadian federal research funding.
Hold your horses, Americans. Canada has begun to retreat from its pro-immigration stance amid a housing crisis.
“I don’t think a mass migration is possible,” says Liew. “It’s only possible for people who might have status in Canada already, such as temporary permanent residence, citizenship, or dual citizenship, for example.”
And while Canada may stand to gain from American migrants, Liew wonders about the costs of those moves, for both countries.
“We have a lot of different expertise and diverse skills within our own borders,” she says. “Why is it that those experts can’t stay in the United States to maybe resist or provide some expertise within their own communities, to educate people about what is actually happening in their government?”
