Is Canada's financial boycott against the US working?

Is Canada’s financial boycott against the US working?

20/11/2025

When President Donald Trump returned to office in January 2025 and immediately sparked a trade war with tariffs and provocative talk about making Canada the “51st state,” he probably didn’t anticipate what would happen next. Nearly a year later, the numbers tell a striking story about Canada’s fight to combat US tariffs – and it’s one that’s reshaping both countries’ economies in ways that few predicted.

The movement that won’t quit

Most boycotts fizzle out after a few weeks. People get tired, priorities shift and old habits creep back in. But Canada’s financial boycott against the US isn’t following that script. October 2025 marked the 10th consecutive month of declining Canadian travel to the US, with air travel down nearly 24% and car travel falling more than 30% compared to the same period last year. [1]

This isn’t just about skipping Disney World vacations. It’s a fundamental shift in how Canadians view their relationship with their southern neighbor. A staggering 91% of Canadians now want their country to rely less on the US [2] – a preference that they’re backing up with their wallets.

“It’s actually keeping it top of mind. He’s keeping the boycott going,” June Cotte, a marketing professor at Western University’s Ivey Business School, told CBC about Trump’s continued provocations. Every time the president takes another shot at Canada, the resolve strengthens rather than weakens.

The damage to American businesses is real

For American companies that built their growth strategies around Canadian customers, 2025 has been devastating. The numbers paint a sobering picture of how effective Canada’s response to US tariffs has become.

The tourism sector has been hammered the hardest. The US Travel Association forecasts a $5.7 billion loss in international tourism spending for 2025 [3], with Canadian visitors driving most of that decline. The World Travel & Tourism Council estimates the broader loss from international travelers will cost the US economy $12.5 billion this year. [4]

Those aren’t just abstract numbers – they represent real businesses struggling to survive. Paul Dame, who owns Bluff Point Golf Resort in Plattsburgh, New York (just 35 minutes from Montreal), used to see 70% of his daily golfers come from Canada. This year he’s been forced to cut hours and staff among his housekeeping crew. [5]

The spirits industry provides perhaps the starkest example. US spirit sales in Canada dropped 66.3% between early March and late April [4], after provincial governments banned American alcohol from store shelves. Virginia Distillery CEO Gareth Moore had ambitious plans for the Canadian market. “We were looking to triple the business. Instead, it collapsed to zero,” he told CNN. [5]

Small businesses are abandoning expansion plans entirely. Demeter Fragrances, a Pennsylvania perfume manufacturer, canceled its 2025 Canadian expansion, calling it “a wasted effort” as “Canadian sentiment has turned away from American product.” [6]

The economic threat is significant enough that David Rosenberg, founder of Rosenberg Research & Associates, called the Canadian boycott’s appearance in the Federal Reserve’s Beige Book “a really big deal,” noting it was “the first time in 40 years” he’d seen such extensive comments about an international boycott in the Fed’s comprehensive economic analysis. [7]

Canadian businesses are thriving

While American companies struggle, Canadian businesses are experiencing an unprecedented boom. The “Buy Canadian” movement has evolved from a patriotic gesture into a sustained economic force that’s fundamentally reshaping consumer behavior north of the border.

Maker House, an Ottawa gift shop specializing in Canadian-made goods, tells the story perfectly. Owner Gareth Davies saw sales surge 150% in February when Trump first announced tariffs, and sales have remained robust – currently up 80%, with sales nearly doubling during the week leading up to Canada Day [8]. Their “elbows up” T-shirts (a reference to comedian Mike Myers’ patriotic Saturday Night Live moment) have become a symbol of Canadian resistance.

The trend extends across virtually every sector. A survey of 2,190 businesses by the Canadian Federation of Independent Business found that 40% reported increased sales of Canadian-made products since the trade war began [8]. And it’s not limited to products – it applies to service providers too: like hiring Canadian web developers instead of American.

Specific success stories are everywhere. Karma Campervans has seen a 42% increase in rental nights booked year-to-date compared to 2024 [9]. Irving Personal Care, a Canadian diaper brand, saw its weekly shipments quadruple [6]. Indigo, Canada’s largest bookseller, reported sales of Canadian-authored books are up 25% year-over-year. [10]

The domestic tourism sector is perhaps the biggest winner. Canada’s tourism industry made a record-breaking C$59 billion from May to August 2025, up 6% from the same period last year, mostly because people chose to travel domestically [1]. WestJet recorded a 6% increase in passengers flying on domestic routes during May to August. [9]

Even major grocery chains are seeing the shift. Loblaws reported a 17% uptick in “Made in Canada” purchases [11], and grocery stores across the country now proudly display maple leaf stickers on Canadian products while some mark American goods with black “T” markers for “tariff-affected”.

This isn’t your typical consumer protest

What makes Canada’s financial boycott against the US so effective is how deeply it’s embedded itself in daily life. An Angus Reid Institute poll found that 98% of Canadians are “looking for ‘Made in Canada’ when they peruse the aisles,” with 85% already replacing at least some American products. [2]

Technology has made participating easier than ever. Apps like Maple Scan help shoppers identify a product’s true origins with a simple barcode scan. Maple Scan became the fourth highest downloaded app on the iPhone App Store in Canada [12]. There’s also a Facebook “Buy Canadian” group that has grown to 1.2 million members [2].

The sentiment runs deep enough that it’s changing long-term behavior patterns. A survey from the Travel Health Insurance Association of Canada found that only 10% of Canadian snowbirds planned US trips for 2025, down 66% compared to last year [1]. Some have even sold their Florida winter homes rather than continue supporting the US economy.

So is it working?

The answer depends on what “working” means. If the goal is to hurt the American economy, the boycott is undeniably effective. In 2024, Canada was the US’s second-largest food export market, valued at $28.4 billion [4] – a relationship now under severe strain.

Just a 10% decline in Canadian tourists could eliminate 14,000 US jobs [10], and the decline is tracking much higher than that. Border states like Montana, New York and Washington are already scrambling with discount campaigns trying to lure Canadians back.

For Canadian businesses, the boycott is clearly working. Domestic companies are capturing market share that they might keep long-term. Ryan Mallough from the Canadian Federation of Independent Business suggests some of these changes could become permanent habits, comparing it to how businesses switched to private carriers during a postal strike and never went back to Canada Post.

The bigger question is whether this boycott will influence US policy. So far, Trump has doubled down, announcing additional tariffs and continuing to make provocative statements about Canadian sovereignty. US Ambassador Pete Hoekstra’s July response was dismissive: “Canadians staying home, that’s their business, you know. I don’t like it, but if that’s what they want to do, it’s fine.” [2]

But economists note that the sustained economic pressure is hard to ignore. With the travel industry worth roughly 10% of US GDP as a “multiplier” sector touching countless industries, a prolonged Canadian boycott creates ripples far beyond empty hotel rooms.

What comes next?

Marketing experts initially predicted the boycott would fade within months. Instead, it’s strengthened and evolved. The combination of Trump’s continued provocations, early success stories from Canadian businesses and genuine patriotic sentiment has created a self-reinforcing cycle.

Whether Canada’s fight to combat US tariffs ultimately succeeds in changing American trade policy remains to be seen. But it’s already succeeded in demonstrating something more fundamental: that sustained, organized consumer action can deliver measurable economic consequences to even the world’s largest economy.

For now, Canadian produce sits next to its American counterpart in grocery stores across Canada – and increasingly, it’s the Canadian bins that empty first while US products rot. That simple image captures the essence of a boycott that’s working better than almost anyone predicted.