TORONTO – With another Canadian winter approaching, Toronto’s Richard Chin is taking in a different view: the upper deck of a Caribbean cruise ship heading back to Florida. The political chill between Canada and the United States has not cooled his enthusiasm for spending time south of the border. “For me, it’s not really an issue. I do try to keep the politics out of it,” Chin told CTV News via Zoom on Saturday. Chin, a Toronto-area realtor, has been travelling back and forth to Florida a week at a time during the winter months for about five years. Most recently, he sold his Florida home to buy a condo further south, in hopes of eventually spending five months during the colder part of each year in the warmer climate. But amid the heated back-and-forth between the two countries, not all countries share Chin’s excitement for heading to a warmed climate. “They’re quite upset and you can’t blame them, but they’re not stepping foot in the United States,” he said. “There’s a lot of people like that I know as well, so I think it’s a mixture.” After the U.S. imposed sweeping tariffs on Canadian goods in 2025, the trade dispute and anti-Canada rhetoric helped fuel a movement to buy Canadian and boycott U.S. travel—a retreat that also reached Canadians’ winter getaway plans. Why snowbirds keep coming back An October 2025 Snowbird Advisor survey of more than 4,000 members found that while 82 per cent reported spending 2024-2025 winter in the United States before the trade war began, the number of travellers who intended to spend their winters down south dropped to 70 per cent the next year as cross-border tensions grew. But now there are now signs the broader retreat from U.S. travel is easing. Preliminary Statistics Canada figures for September show Canadian residents made approximately 1.9 million return trips from the United States by air and automobile, up 6.8 per cent from September 2025. It was the sixth consecutive month of year-over-year growth. “We need to remember the majority of snowbirds still go to the U.S.,” SnowbirdAdvisor.ca’s Stephen Fine told CTV News Saturday. Fine says snowbirds have a different relationship with their winter destinations than travellers heading away for a week or a weekend – and identifies three connections that can make the United States difficult to replace: property, transportation and community. “The first one is many snowbirds own properties in their winter destination, whether it’s Florida, whether it’s Arizona, California, other popular snowbird states,” he said. “Many also want their own vehicle during a stay lasting months, making the ability to drive to a U.S. destination appealing.” Then there are the relationships built over successive winters. “They’re part of the local community, they have friends there., they want to be able to spend time with their friends, and that’s a big part of the snowbird lifestyle,” Fine said The cost of choosing somewhere else Toronto travel expert Barry Choi believes some snowbirds and other Canadian travellers are returning to Florida after staying away. For people who already own a home there, he says choosing another destination can mean paying for accommodation elsewhere while continuing to carry the cost of their U.S. property. “At least with the U.S., you could drive down there if you still desired,” Choi said. “The flights to get down to Florida are significantly cheaper than, say, going to Europe.” But Fine cautions against assuming the United States is always the less expensive choice, or judging affordability by exchange rates alone. He says Mexico can offer lower daily living costs, while winter accommodation in southern Spain and Portugal can be more affordable than comparable stays in the U.S. “It doesn’t all come down to how our currency stacks up against another currency,” Fine said. “It’s about how affordable accommodations are and how affordable daily living and daily expenses are in those places.” For now, Fine said the direction of this snowbird season is still uncertain. “Some snowbirds are starting to leave. Some are still in the planning phase. Some are going to go later on in the year,” he said. Fine expects his organization’s next survey to provide a clearer picture at the end of November or in early December. His current expectation is that results may be broadly similar to last year, with the possibility of a modest increase or decrease. For Chin, the decision is already made: political tensions have not put his Florida plans on hold. For the wider snowbird population, intentions still need to translate into trips. “We try to wait until later in the season because intentions are very different than actual actions,” Fine said. “So, we like to wait until snowbirds are actually in their destination or just about to head there before we ask them these questions.”
