For more than a decade, the Labour Day long weekend has usually meant a trip across the St. Lawrence River for Daniel Fredette. The Quebec resident keeps his boat at the marina in Prescott, Ont., and says he and his wife would typically spend two or three days in Clayton, N.Y., over the holiday weekend. But not this year. “We used to go very often, at least I’d say twice a year every summer, and especially during this long weekend,” Fredette said. “But we don’t go anymore because of that tension.” Fredette says trade tensions between Canada and the United States have changed when he and his wife are choosing to spend their money. “We’re trying to buy Canadian,” he said. “We didn’t mind before spending our money on the other side… but for the time being, we’re buying Canadian stuff a little bit.” The decision comes as the latest Statistics Canada figures show Canadians are beginning to return to the United States in greater numbers following a sharp decline in travel last year. There were more than 2.27 million Canadian-resident return trips from the U.S. by automobile and air in July 2026, up 10.2 per cent compared with July 2025. It marked the fourth consecutive month of the year-over-year growth. But the rebound remains far from complete. Canadian residents made approximately 1.9 million return trips from the U.S. by automobile in July, up 12.8 per cent from a year earlier, but still 28.9 per cent below July 2024 levels. Air travel from the U.S. was also down 26.8 per cent compared with two years ago. Statistics Canada says the year-over-year increase is largely the result of comparison with 2025, when Canadian travel to the U.S dropped sharply amid geopolitical tensions. At the Prescott marina, supervisor Teresa Jansman says the change in cross-border travel has been noticeable. “The St. Lawrence River is the boaters’ highway, and it’s not shared anymore and it has nothing to do with anything but the politics of it,” Jansman said. She says communities on both sides of the river felt closely connected, but cross-border boating has not returned to what she remembers before the COVID-19 pandemic. “It definitely marks a difference,” she said. “It’s not coming back after COVID the way it should.” For others living near the border, politics is only part of the reason for making fewer trips south. New Wexford resident Cheryl Saunders says her husband previously travelled frequently to Ogdensburg and Watertown, N.Y., but the couple has cut back. “I think it’s not just the political issues. It also is the dollar because it just costs a lot more money,” Saunders said. However, she says they haven’t stopped visiting the U.S. altogether and are planning a trip to North Carolina in October. “I mean, it’s not like we’re going to ever totally cut off ties despite things going on the way they are,” Saunders said. Fredette is taking a similar approach. While his boat will remain on the Canadian side of the river this Labour Day weekend, he and his wife still intend to travel south this winter. The couple own a condo in the United States and plan to return. “Hopefully things will get better, and hopefully people will be happy to see us do it because we’re happy to go there,” Fredette said. For now, he says what he wants most is an improvement in relations between the two countries. “Let’s get an agreement as soon as possible,” Fredette said. “We’re more than happy to go to the United States. Let’s get that agreement.”
