Manitoba travel to U.S. takes hit amid Trump's tariff war
Number of Canadians returning to Manitoba from U.S. dropped 20% in February
The province's tourism industry wants to capitalize on a decline in the number of Manitobans and Canadians travelling to the U.S. amid Donald Trump's trade war.
New numbers show fewer travellers drove through land border crossings in February compared to the same month last year.
"Typically we go to Detroit Lakes [Minnesota] probably once a year," said Rudy Giesbrecht, a Manitoban who's decided to shake up his travel plans.
"There's a place down there that we really, really like to go to, but no, we're not going this year."
Giesbrecht and his wife, Cheryl, said they're cancelling their annual vacation because of the tariffs imposed by the U.S. president and his views on Canada.
"For now, we just really don't want to be down there," Cheryl said following a lunch outing with friends at The Forks in Winnipeg. "It's disappointing, but I think we just need to take a stand and say that we just don't agree with the way he's treating us as a country."
There was an 18 per cent decrease in February compared to the same month last year in the number of travellers driving from Canada into North Dakota and Minnesota, according to data from U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
The numbers show 116,685 travellers crossed the land border by vehicle in 2025, down from 142,870 people in 2024.
Right across the country, about 348,000 fewer Canadians returned from the U.S. by vehicle, with the number of travellers dropping from more than 1.5 million people in February 2024 to over 1.1 million last month, according to Statistics Canada.
That's no surprise to Joanne Vanderhorst, a Winnipegger putting a road trip in a camper van along the U.S. west coast on hold.
"I don't think my husband or I are comfortable with the idea of travelling south at this point in time," Vanderhorst said.
She said it's because of the strained relationship between Canada and the U.S.
"We are not happy with the tariffs being imposed on us. I think we just have to be Canadian, we have to support Canadian and we have to travel Canadian."
The number of Canadians returning from the U.S. to Manitoba by vehicle also went down by 20 per cent, according to Stats Canada.
There were 37,727 Canadians who crossed back into the province last month, down from 48,084 returning to Manitoba in February 2024.
Uptick in staycations expected
With travel south of the border on the decline, the head of the province's tourism organization sees an opportunity to boost travel numbers.
Colin Ferguson, president and CEO of Travel Manitoba, said the tourism industry is trying to show Manitobans — and Canadians — there's plenty to explore, especially as spring break approaches.
"Their travel plans have changed, so they're looking for other locations," Ferguson said. "So we see that there could be a bit of an uptake."
People started travelling locally more during the COVID-19 pandemic and the trend has continued, he said.
"They're going to Clear Lake, they're going to Falcon Lake, they're going to Riding Mountain National Park, they're going to Hecla, they're going to all of these places … or they're going to a hotel that has an indoor pool and the kids are having a ball," Ferguson said.
"Little short staycations are still happening," he said.
Travel Manitoba's focus will remain on moving Manitobans within the province, attracting more Canadians and continuing to try to convince Americans to travel north of the border.
"So far, we're still seeing pretty strong numbers coming out of the States," Ferguson said.
The number of U.S. residents visiting Manitoba dropped only slightly in February, down to 12,597 people from 12,741 travellers during the same month last year.
"Americans tend to come for fishing," Ferguson said. "They also come for Churchill, whether they're coming up to see polar bears in the wild or beluga whales.… These are bucket-list opportunities."
Exploring Manitoba instead
Vanderhorst said she and her husband are already working on their backup plans.
"We're actually talking about exploring lots of areas of Manitoba that we haven't really done," she said.
The Giesbrechts said they'd rather not have to cancel their travel plans because they don't want to hurt individual business owners in the U.S., but they feel their "token gesture" is necessary and needed at this time.
"We feel bad we can't support them," Rudy said. "Maybe if there's enough of us that do that kind of thing, maybe the businesses down there will put pressure on their [members of Congress], will put pressure on Trump, and hopefully maybe something will change that way."
Cheryl said until then, they plan to keep any travel closer to home.
"We'll find stuff to do," she said. "We'll stay local."
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