by Jen Mallia
Last updated: 9:45 AM ET, Tue December 30, 2025
As travel across the border continues to trickle, we have heard many reports about hotels, campgrounds, ski hills and tourist attractions that are taking a hit, particularly on the American side of the border.
While American travel into Canada has stayed relatively steady — in October 2025, the number of arrivals to Canada by US residents by air increased 1.3% over October 2024, while arrivals by automobile decreased 0.7% — travel by Canadians into the U.S. has fallen steeply. In the same month, Canadian-resident return trips from the United States by air fell 23.9% compared with the same month one year earlier. Canadian-resident return trips by automobile dropped 30.5%, according to Statistics Canada.
With stats like that, it’s not surprising that businesses who cater to Canadian visitors are suffering. On our side of the border, roadside duty-free shops are feeling the pinch intensely.
The Frontier Duty Free Association is an organization made up of land border shop owners, and they are taking their concerns to the federal government in hopes of finding help. According to a report in CBC News, the central requests are for repayable loans for struggling shops and a reduction in red tape regarding labelling.
Fewer travellers mean less duty-free shoppers, which has caused business to diminish. Tania Lee, President of the Frontier Duty Free Association reports a duty-free store in New Brunswick has already been forced to close. “And we have stores in B.C. that are teetering on the edge. And also stores in Manitoba that have been really hard hit,” Lee says. “They are telling us that they won’t make it through the winter time, and it’s heartbreaking because you can feel their pain.”
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