Nanos survey says border crossing no longer ‘on the radar’ for many Canadians

Canadian and U.S. flags fly atop the Peace Arch monument at the Douglas-Peace Arch border crossing in Surrey, B.C., on Monday, November 8, 2021. (Darryl Dyck/The Canadian Press)

A new survey from Nanos Research for CTV News found 43 per cent of Canadians are less likely to travel to the United States in 2026, compared to the previous year.

Thirty-eight per cent said they don’t vacation in the United States in general, while just four per cent said they are likely to spend more leisure time south of the border.

For many Canadians, “the U.S. is not on the radar in terms of a travel destination,” said Nik Nanos.

• Read more: Canadians turning to March break alternatives amid tensions in Cuba, Mexico

“Canadians are boycotting American goods and services. They’re trying to … send a message to the United States, in terms of their anxiety and displeasure, in terms of the state of the trade relationship,” he added. “I think the reality is, there are a lot of options for Canadians when it comes to where they have a vacation.”

Nanos expects Canadian tourism will be benefit with an uptick in domestic vacations in 2026. He attributes that to several reasons beyond just the political climate, including tourists prioritizing safety, as well as another data point the research found: nearly half (46 per cent) of Canadians are keeping their vacation budgets the same.

“I think the fact that people are worried about their budget probably speaks to another key motivator for Canadians to look at spending their vacation domestically,” said Nanos.

While 20 per cent of respondents said they were cutting back their travel budget, 22 per cent plan to spend more.

The U.S. travel numbers continue a downward trend. The latest update from Statistics Canada shows return trips to the U.S. by Canadians were down 25 per cent in December 2025, compared to that month the year before.

CTV News caught up with several Canadian travellers at the Ottawa International Airport ahead of March break, all of whom echoed the survey’s findings.

“I don’t want to travel to the U.S. with all the drama going on there,” said high school basketball player Ben Miller.

The Westgate Tigers were at the airport heading home Thursday night to Thunder Bay, Ont., after playing in a provincial tournament in Pembroke, Ont. Miller said his team used to play in the U.S. but recently stopped those trips.

He and a teammate both told CTV News the idea of heading there now makes them feel “unsafe,” citing Minneapolis as one of their main destinations.

“With everything that’s going on, I just prefer to stay here and explore our amazing Canada,” traveller Lana Rosin told us. “We have no plans to go there anytime soon.”

Marquis Cote, heading to Mexico with his family of four, said he’s been hearing a lot of anti-U.S. travel sentiment lately.

“I’m trying to avoid it, if possible. Only for work, if I need to,” he said of travel to the U.S., the idea of which makes him feel a little “uneasy.”

Methodology

Nanos Research conducted a dual frame (land- and cell-lines) hybrid telephone and online random survey between March 1 and 8, 2026. Respondents were recruited by live agents by telephone and completed the survey online. Results were statistically checked and weighted by age and gender to the latest census. The firm says its survey results carry a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.