In January 2025, the number of British Columbia vehicles crossing the border into Washington state was up 10 per cent year over year. Laurie Trautman with the Western Washington University Border Policy Research Institute said at the time, it was the continuation of a very welcome trend. “We had been on this kind of upward trajectory post-Covid of month over month, you know, people kind of resuming those pre-COVID habits. And then really quickly, that flipped a switch in February,” said Trautman. When U.S. President Donald Trump began threatening tariffs and advocating for Canada to become the 51st state, British Columbians immediately cut back their day trips to Washington state. Land crossings were down 29 per cent in February, and 43 per cent in March. April saw the year’s biggest year over year drop, with 51 per cent fewer B.C. vehicles at the borders. Traffic picked up slightly in the summer but then came stories of issues at the border. “We’re hearing from a lot of Canadians who either are genuinely sort of fearful of those situations, or they just don’t want to deal with any kind of hassle they might face at the border, or any kind of hassle they might face in the United States,” said Trautman. In the final five months of 2025, border crossings in B.C. were down an average of 38 per cent compared to 2024. That’s significantly higher than the national average, which was a 22 per cent drop per the last available data. “In a place like Detroit/Windsor, you’d have many more people crossing for work reasons than here. Whereas here it might be for family, might be for friends, it might be for shopping. But it’s reasons that can pretty easily be changed,” said Trautman. That change has been devastating for Washington state border businesses that rely on British Columbians. “Locally, we’re probably looking at years of this being the norm,” said Guy Occhiogrosso with the Bellingham Regional Chamber of Commerce. “I think our big box retailers, our national retailers, they will adjust. They have tools. I think our smaller entities, particularly those at the border will have a much, much tougher time finding what a new normal is.” “Some have already gone out of business. We’ve heard from businesses in Point Roberts (and) in Blaine that have already closed shop,” added Trautman. In Whatcom County, there’s not much optimism border traffic will pick up in 2026. “We want Canadians to know that you were welcome by us when you’re ready,” said Occhiogrosso, who acknowledged “there’s a lot of reasons why you’re probably not ready right now.”
