Nearly half of Quebecers cancel U.S. trips amid tensions, boosting local tourism

For many Montrealers, it’s Spring Break. And for some, that means taking a trip.

It was a busy Saturday morning at Trudeau Airport, but amid U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariff threats, have Quebecers been changing their destinations?

A new poll found that nearly half of Quebecers who planned a trip south of the border for 2025 have either already canceled their plans or intend to do so. That’s according to a Léger survey conducted for the Alliance de l’industrie touristique du Québec.

The Leger study was conducted from Feb. 14 to 16, 2025, via a web panel, with 1,007 respondents selected to represent Quebec’s population.

The survey also suggests this could result in major losses for the U.S. economy, estimated at approximately $3 billion.

Since returning to the White House, Donald Trump has sparked economic and political uncertainty due to the potential risk of a tariff war between Canada and the U.S. This has stirred feelings of mistrust, concern, and anger among Canadians.

“I had planned maybe towards the end of the year to go to the States, but I’m not going. I’m just going to go somewhere else, maybe more towards the islands. The States, no, it really made me take a step back,” said one Montrealer.

“A lot of people are afraid to travel there with the hostilities. We see the national anthem being booed at hockey. People are wondering if I go there, how will I be treated as a Quebecer, as a Canadian? So a lot of fear, and then anger is the number one reason. People are looking for a way to kind of retaliate to show that they disagree with what Donald Trump is doing,” said Sébastien Benedict, Vice President of Public Affairs and Communications, Alliance de l’Industrie Touristique du Québec.

The Alliance commissioned the survey to assess the potential impact of these feelings on Quebecers’ plans for leisure travel to the United States in 2025.

“I think it’s important for us to stand strong as Canadians and not to accept what’s happening right now,” said one Montrealer.

20 per cent of Quebecers surveyed had initially planned to travel to the United States in 2025. Almost half of those who have already cancelled their trip say they are now planning to spend their vacation within the province, which could boost the local tourism economy, generating an estimated additional $1.5 billion in economic activity.

“It’s a huge boost for us,” said Benedict.

“Annually, Canadians in general spend $30 billion in the United States on tourism every year. For Quebec, it’s about $6 billion that is spent by tourists in the United States. So we’re looking at half of that volume. Like I said, we’re looking at about $3 billion of loss economically through the United States,” he added.

“It’s really the fact that half of those people cancelling are planning on staying in Quebec, which means this summer will probably be something like we saw during the pandemic, where people couldn’t travel abroad and we had Quebecers like never before in our regions. So we’re kind of expecting this sort of boom this summer, with a lot of Quebecers staying here. And on top of that, Americans are still traveling here.”

Benedict mentioned that the key markets for tourism here are Massachusetts, New York, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine—regions that are relatively close. Despite the circumstances, these markets still plan to visit. With the U.S. dollar being favorable right now, many Americans are still eager to travel here.

“When we’re combining the anticipated increase of Americans coming over, merged with this large portion of Quebecers that usually travel to the States and will stay here. We’re expecting a very good but very busy tourism season, especially this summer,” he said.

The Alliance de l’industrie touristique du Québec mentions that tourism is Québec’s fourth-largest export sector. Of the more than $4 billion generated from international tourism, half ($2.1 billion) comes from the United States. These revenues help fund major projects, public services, and essential infrastructure that benefit every region of Québec.

Benedict says some sectors will be hit hard by tariffs, so there is a need to diversify the economy, and tourism is huge for that.

“It sounds weird because it’s when we think of export we think we’re sending stuff, you know, aluminum overseas, but it’s calculated in terms of international money coming in and we’re the big, fourth biggest sector. Last year it was 4.1 billion that Quebec received from tourist money internationally, so for us, we see a huge opportunity with the situation right now,” Benedict explained.

While the Alliance is pleased that more Quebecers are choosing to vacation in Québec this year, it still urges tourism industry workers and the general public to maintain their usual courtesy and respect in all interactions with American tourists visiting Québec.

“With the hostilities, you know, we’re kind of scared that when they’re coming here people will be rude or so on, but you know, Quebec being a welcoming and warm place is one of our signature marks worldwide. When people come to Quebec, they feel safe, they say all people are welcoming here, so we don’t want to lose that trademark.”

“People are rightfully angry at what Donald Trump and his administration are doing, but we need to kind of separate, you know, the average American, especially the tourists that come here and enjoy Quebec, from the administration itself because we want them here. We need to diversify our economy,” said Benedict.