While Canadians are reconsidering travel plans to America due to anger over the trade war set off by U.S. President Donald Trump, one travel expert points to the exchange rate playing a big factor.
Marty Firestone, president of Toronto-based insurance firm Travel Secure Inc., told AM800's The Shift with Patty Handysides that Canadians are angry and upset, but at the end of the day it's the Canadian dollar difference that's driving many decisions when that $100 U.S. dinner is costing $145. That's stopping people.
The loonie has hovered around 70 cents U.S. for the past few months.
Firestone is down in Florida right now and says if Americans find out you're from Canada, the first thing they say is, I'm so sorry for what's happening and the way our president is acting. They feel terrible because we are their friends to the north.
Firestone says yes, they're angry at the tariffs being imposed.
"Now maybe they'll be reviewed and they will meet in the middle, as they say. Doesn't matter though; the overall sentiment right now is very negative in general. But if the dollar were at par, you can believe this wouldn't be as big of a problem as it is, so it's a combination of the two, more on the dollar than anything else," he says.
Firestone says that anyone using a Canadian credit card in the U.S. is in for a big surprise when they get home and look at their bill.
"Not only are they paying the dollar difference, they've got transaction fees," he says. "Who knows what day the dollar was figured out on their cards? It becomes a rude awakening, and many are saying, 'You know what? I can't afford this at this point.'"
Travel agency Flight Centre Travel Group Canada says leisure bookings to American cities dropped 40 per cent in February from the same month in 2024, while one in five customers cancelled their trips to the U.S. over the past three months.
With files from CTV News.