Featured image: Is travel to the US safe right now? Kathy Buckworth, pictured in NYC in 2023, shares her thoughts | Photo provided by Kathy Buckworth

Many Canadian women won’t travel to the U.S. on principle

by Kathy Buckworth

I have such great memories of travelling to the U.S., or as we colloquially call it in Canada, “the States”. Yes, we were once that close with the States. And they are still physically that close. It was easy to visit, and even easier to enjoy.

My favourite New York City haunt was the Algonquin Hotel, where the wonderful and witty writer Dorothy Parker used to hold court at the Round Table. I’ve skied at Breckenridge, Vail, Whiteface, Park City and other magnificent mountains, enjoyed wine tasting in the Napa Valley, marvelled at the Golden Gate Bridge, and driven down the Oregon and California coast.

In Virginia’s Mountain Lake, where the movie Dirty Dancing was filmed, the lake’s water is now a dry field. It’s a bit of a metaphor for what the U.S. has become, for me, and many other Canadian women who used to visit. While American cities, fields, lakes and mountains will forever be part of my Canadian life experience, I’ve made a decision not to travel there. And I’m not alone.

According to reports from the U.S. Travel Association and World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC), international tourism spending in the U.S. is projected to fall by $5.7 billion in 2025, largely driven by a significant decline in Canadian visitors. Canadians have been the biggest source of international visitors to the US at 28% of foreign tourists in 2024, according to the BBC. However, since January 2025, the US Travel Association (USTA) says that inbound Canadian travel to the US is down 23% year-to-date (Jan-Oct) and that roughly four million fewer Canadians have visited the US in 2026 to date.

As airlines reduce routes from Canada to the US, it’s clear that Canada is standing strong, particularly after Prime Minister Carney’s inspiring speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos.

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Travel to the US: How do women over 50 feel about travel?

After the most recent events in Minnesota, we invited Canadian women on our private Facebook group to share their perspectives on whether they felt safe travelling to the US or planned to travel to the U.S. in 2026. In our informal survey, most said they were avoiding U.S. travel on principle, not only for holidays but also for flight routes.

Kristine H. said: “For me, it’s not about safety as it is about principle. I refuse to give any of my money to the current political administration, and apparently, actions like mine are being noticed.”

Anita W. commented: “For me …anywhere BUT the U.S. I am avoiding U.S. airports (for stopovers) too. These past two years, I have spent about 13 weeks travelling each year to non-US destinations, including Canada. And, 2026 will be the same. There’s so much to see and do beyond the US!!”

“We have a place in the States, but I avoided going for over a year. I went this fall/winter, and it was fine, but I would prefer not to go, honestly. Not so much about safety as not supporting the economy,” commented Cline O.

Tricia Madill, a Canadian travel advisor at Toronto, Ontario-based Pure Magic Vacations, says: “I’ve seen a bit of a slowdown in U.S. inquiries compared to last year, and some clients do mention the political climate as part of that. It’s not tied to any one destination. It feels more like a general hesitation around travelling anywhere in the US right now.”

“At the same time, I’ve noticed a real increase in bucket list travel. It seems like people are choosing to do those dream trips now, maybe because there’s a sense of uncertainty and they want to prioritize meaningful travel,” she says.

Where are Canadian women travelling to?

What women do with the travel dollars matters. JourneyWoman’s research. “Invisible No More” shows that the women 50+ Travel market in North America is estimated at more than 37 million women, representing USD$245 billion in spending, doubling to USD$519 billion in 2035. The research shows spending increases with age, with the 65-74 segment being the most affluent. Learn more here.

In our informal poll, the majority of Canadian women in our private Facebook group said they have shifted their travel plans outside the U.S. This reflects our last JourneyWoman Women’s Travel Survey in August 2025, which showed that both Canadians and Americans were choosing Canada as their top destination, followed by Western Europe, the United Kingdom and Ireland, Mexico and the Arctic. JourneyWoman’s survey also showed that 74 per cent of respondents living outside the U.S. said they would not travel to the U.S. in the next three years, an increase over the previous survey in May 2025.

More recently, Skyscanner, a global travel app, released research showing that 66 per cent of Canadians are planning to head abroad in 2026. Skyscanner identified Japan as one of the top destinations for Canadians travel in 2026, driven by a mix of affordability, cultural depth, and changing travel priorities. According to Skyscanner, the average round-trip flight price to Tokyo in 2026 is $1,183, making it one of the top 10 cheapest places to go in 2026.

Skyscanner also noted other affordable destinations for Canadians, including Vancouver, B.C., Canada, Nassau, Bahamas, Punta Cana, the Dominican Republic, Madeira, Portugal and San José, Costa Rica in their list, released on January 13, 2026.

What’s next for Canadian women who want to travel?

As a kid growing up in Winnipeg, our family went to the Moorhead, Minnesota Holiday Inn for March break so often that friends called my sister Moorhead Margaret. We explored Fargo well before it became a movie and television sweetheart.

Sadly, I’m not about to go back to the U.S. for a very long time. Not just Minnesota, but the whole of the 50 states. It’s not just about the ICE raids. It’s not just about the reversal of Roe vs Wade. It’s not just the racism, misogyny, openness of white supremacism, the lack of rule of law or even the constant and hopefully low-level threat of Canada becoming the 51st state.

Perhaps taking a stand is detrimental to my travel writing reputation and future work, but I don’t want people to think that I’m recommending the U.S. as a viable travel destination right now. And in particular, I wouldn’t want to recommend it to a solo female traveller. Why should women (of any age) support a country that is, at best, actively taking away their abortion rights or refusing to recognize trans status, as Canada does.

I know many Canadians who are still travelling to the United States. Some for work conferences, some to visit family or close friends, and some, to me, inexplicably, because they don’t see why they shouldn’t. I suppose they might support the current U.S. administration’s policies. Or maybe they feel that they’re not going to let Donald Trump tell them where they can and can’t go.

The thing is, he can. Travelling under the threat of violence to foreigners (Canadians are foreigners in the U.S., don’t forget) is not something I’m prepared to face. Maybe I didn’t receive a formal letter telling me not to go, but as a writer, I’m pretty good at reading between the lines, as well as writing these ones.

Stay safe if you travel to the US

Registration of Canadians Abroad: If you’re planning to travel to the U.S. (or anywhere outside the country), you should register with Global Affairs Canada. You can register online here.

Consular assistance: For consular assistance during business hours, contact Canadian Citizen Services at [email protected] or 1-844-880-6519. For emergency consular services at any time, contact the Emergency Watch and Response Centre in Ottawa. You can also call toll-free at 1-888-949-9993.

Insurance: You should get trip interruption and travel health insurance to be prepared for any unexpected emergencies abroad. Find options on InsureMyTrip here.

Editor’s note: As a Canadian publication, we are not promoting U.S. destinations nor creating new articles promoting travel to the U.S. We are, however, encouraging U.S. citizens to get passports and travel outside their own country. After all, it’s a big, wide world out there!

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