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Nearly a year into Donald Trump’s second term as president, some Saskatchewan travellers are choosing to avoid the United States.
“I don’t think I’ll be going to the States anytime soon,” said Regina’s Joshua Tooth. “I’ll be keeping it to Canada.”
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Tooth said he was looking forward to seeing Bring Me the Horizon, one of his favourite rock bands, performing in Minnesota in May, but after a shooting involving U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents left one woman dead in Minneapolis, sparking widespread protests, Tooth said he’s choosing to stay home.
“I want to see the band really bad,” he said. “(I) would love to, but it’s not worth putting myself and my partner at risk. That’s why we ended up cancelling.”
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Data from Statistics Canada show that the number of Canadians travelling to the United States was down in December. The agency said Canadian trips to the U.S. were down nearly 31 per cent for automobile trips and nearly 19 per cent for trips by air, when compared to 2024.
Tooth said he would rather “eat the cost” of the $900 tickets than through Minneapolis at the moment.
“When it comes to the enforcement that’s being done in Minneapolis, I just don’t feel safe to go there,” he said.
Tooth said there’s more than enough in Canada and other countries to keep him entertained for the next few years, and said he will try and sell the tickets before the concert date to recoup some of the money he’s spent.
U.S. tourism groups noticed absence of Canadian travellers in 2025
Stephanie Schoenrock, the executive director of Visit Minot, said 20 per cent fewer Canadians visited the North Dakota city last year.
“There’s a long history of relationships between Saskatchewan and Minot,” Schoenrock said.
“For those that are coming, they’re enjoying their time and planning repeat trips.”
Schoenrock said her tourism group offers specific discounts and deals to Canadians that were taken advantage of, despite the declining numbers.
The Visit Minot logo sits outside of the Taube Museum of Art in Minot, North Dakota. (Visit Minot/Facebook)
Politics aren’t the only factor that Schoenrock believes may affect tourist numbers. She said the exchange rate and the economy also affect where Canadians choose to travel.
She doesn’t know what to expect in terms of tourism numbers this year.
“We don’t have a crystal ball to gauge that,” Schoenrock said. “I would think that it’ll be comparable to 2025.”
Meanwhile, no Canadians showed up to take a tour with Nicolle Fuger’s outfitting business in Montana in 2025.
“I had a couple people actually cancel guided trips that were supposed to come down from Canada because of the political environment,” said Fuger, the owner of Missouri River Outfitters.
Nicolle Fuger is hoping that Canadians return to her outfitting business in 2026. (Missouri River Outfitters/Submitted)
Fuger said her company typically books about 10 Canadian trips each year and it was “kind of a bummer not to have them come down” in 2025.
“We kind of love our Canadians that come down every year,” she said. “We do have families that have come for years to enjoy the break and to come to Fort Benton.”
Fuger said she chose to give full refunds to the people who cancelled due to the U.S. political environment, instead of holding their deposits until a later date.
“It’s still a hit,” she said. “The biggest thing is just not seeing those people that come every year.”
