The Thousand Islands International Tourism Council says Canadian spending is down 60 per cent this year on the United States side of the Thousand Islands, as statistics show nine consecutive months of fewer cross-border road trips from eastern Ontario to New York State. There were approximately 27,000 fewer trips a month across the Canada-U.S. border from eastern Ontario in September and October. “We’ve been experiencing a 60 per cent loss of Canadian spending on the New York side of our region; that started right at the beginning of the year in the first quarter and that has maintained right through September,” Corey Fram, director of the 1000 Islands International Tourism Council, told Newstalk 580 CFRA’s Ottawa at Work with Patricia Boal. “It, unfortunately, has found its level at a pretty significant decrease. We haven’t seen that ease up just yet.” Fram says Canadian visitors are responsible for 15 per cent of visitor spending on the New York State side of the Thousand Islands. “It’s a big loss of what is kind of a smaller piece, but that doesn’t mean it’s not significant for certain sectors. The hardest hit are things such as retail, food, particularly food and beverage establishments, as well as groceries, and fuel. It’s a significant piece for some of our operators.” The U.S. Customs and Border Protection reported there were 149,000 conveyances at the U.S. border locations at Alexandria Bay, Ogdensburg and Massena in October, down from 176,000 trips across the border to the three points of entry in October 2024. In September, there were 140,000 conveyances at the three New York State border crossings, down from 167,000 conveyances in September 2024. Data shows the Thousand Islands Bridge, connecting Alexandria Bay, New York and Lansdowne, Ont. continues to see the biggest drop in cross-border visitors each month. There were 53,400 conveyances in September and 54,900 in October, down from 66,800 in September 2024 and 69,600 in October of last year. At the Ogdensburg, New York border crossing across the Ogdensburg-Prescott International Bridge, there were 18,700 conveyances in September, down from 25,600 trips across the border in September in 2024. In October, there were 20,000 conveyances at the U.S. border entry, down from 27,600 the year before. At the land border crossings from Cornwall and Akwesasne to Massena, New York, there were 73,700 conveyances at the U.S. border in October, down from 79,000 in October 2024. In September, there were 68,200 trips across the Canada-U.S. border to Massena, down from 74,900 in September 2024. There has been a decline in cross-border trips from eastern Ontario to the three U.S. border crossings in New York for nine straight months. August saw the biggest one-month decline in cross-border trips, with 37,000 fewer conveyances at the U.S. border crossings in Alexandria Bay, Ogdensburg and Massena compared to last year. There were 34,000 fewer vehicle trips from eastern Ontario to New York State in July. Fram says the tourism council expects cross-border trips to the Thousand Islands into next year. “I do think that this has legs into 2026, and that’s challenging for us and troubling,” Fram said Tuesday morning. “Even if we were to reverse course on the rhetoric piece and to remove that almost daily discussion around tariffs, feels are hurt and legitimate reasons. That has driven a real negative sentiment that is just going to take time to build back up. I think that starts in destinations along the border, like the Thousand Islands.” Last week, Statistics Canada reported the number of Canadians who returned by car from the United States fell to 1.4 million in October, a 30.5 per cent drop from the same period in 2024. The number of Canadians returning home from the U.S. on a plane dropped 24 per cent to 437,300 in October. With files from The Canadian Press
