Mar. 12: Staycations

March 12, 2026

See Canada first – staycations popular amid U.S. trade tensions

Ever since trade tensions, increased scrutiny at the U.S. border, and annexation talk, many Canadians have dropped plans to go south of the border. A lot of people are now seeing more of their home and native land.

Save with SPP took a look around the Interweb to see what people are saying about the ultimate made-in-Canada holiday – the staycation.

The lack of Canadian visitors to the U.S. is having an impact, reports Forbes.

“One year into a boycott of U.S. destinations, Canadian travelers have cost the American economy $4.5 billion—and show no inclination of returning in 2026, as trips to the U.S. took another tumble in January,” the magazine reports.

Road trips, the article continues, were down 27 per cent in January 2026 compared to one year earlier. “There was also an 18 per cent year-over-year decline in air travellers from Canada in January 2026,” the magazine notes.

Visits by Canadians to the U.S. dipped by four million in 2025 – a drop of 22 per cent, Forbes adds.

The reasons for the decline, Forbes reports, are political.

“The relationship between Canada and the U.S. has been strained by President Donald Trump’s hefty tariffs on the country’s goods and repeated threats to make Canada the 51st state. One year ago, after Trump announced a 25 per cent tariff on Canadian goods entering the U.S., outgoing Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau urged citizens to reconsider visiting the U.S. and travel domestically instead,” the article notes.

And it appears Canadians are doing just that.

The CBC reports that Canadians travelling within Canada could create a domestic economic boon.

Canadians are dropping plans for “a Kentucky bus tour… a five-day cruise to Alaska,” and “a multi-state road trip” to instead travel in their home country.

“`With everything going on in the United States at the moment, it doesn’t sit well with me to be putting our hard-earned money into their economy,’ Michelle Gardner, a B.C. resident who recently cancelled a U.S. spring break trip,” states in the CBC piece. In the end, her family toured Alberta, including a stop at the famous West Edmonton Mall.

To that end, the report continues, “provinces and territories are seeing increased interest from Canadian tourists — and they’re looking to capitalize on that momentum.”

“`With that increased national pride and sense of wanting to spend dollars here, there’s a real opportunity to get more of our provincial residents and national residents coming to different parts of the province, Jonathan Potts, CEO of Tourism Saskatchewan,” tells the CBC.

Brian Gallaugher, 66, tells the CBC he scrapped plans for a Kentucky trip and instead will tour through “eastern Ontario and Quebec.”

Discussing the 51^st state talk, he adds that “we really don’t plan on going back to the States until that kind of rhetoric stops,” the CBC notes.

Tourism industry operators are seeing a jump in bookings, reports the National Post.

The Clements family, who operate a 100-cottage resort near Ontario’s Sandbanks Provincial Park, saw bookings jump 87 per cent last year after the first presidential remarks about Canada having a governor.

“As Canadians started rallying, I think we realized we’re probably going to do better than we believed,” Scott Clement tells the Post.

The Globe and Mail reports that domestic flight bookings were up nearly 10 per cent last year, and that “the number of Canadians planning travel to another province within the country increased by 11 per cent.”

There’s a lot to see without leaving Canada, Renee de Ronde of Burlington, Ont. tells the Globe.

“You could spend a lifetime exploring Canada and barely scratch the surface,” she states in the article.

The Globe notes that “online searches for domestic stays by Canadians on Airbnb’s platform climbed nearly 20 per cent year-over-year” in 2025 compared to the year before. Locations most frequently searched include “Comox-Strathcona, B.C., as well as Quebec City, Waterton Park, Alta., and Moose Jaw,” the Globe reports.

Canadian air carriers, the newspaper adds, are adding more in-Canada flights and are cutting back on flights to the U.S.

In Ontario, reports the CBC, restaurant and hotel groups are calling on the province to restore an in-province travel credit that was introduced during the pandemic.

So, consider seeing a little more of your own country to help boost our economy, and your knowledge of the sights and sounds of beautiful Canada.

Travelling is something we all expect to do in retirement – but it generally costs a few bucks to gas up the car, jump on a train or bus, or fasten your seatbelt aboard a jet plane.

It can be difficult to put away money for the future when you are in your younger working years. But the Saskatchewan Pension Plan makes things easy for you. You decide how much you want to save, and we do the rest – investing your savings dollars in our low-cost, professionally managed pooled fund.

At retirement, your savings can be turned into retirement spending money in several different ways, including the security of a monthly lifetime annuity payment, or the more flexible Variable Benefit.

Check out SPP today!

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CBC, Forbes, National Post, The Globe and Mail

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