‘We no longer felt welcome nor safe’: Canadian snowbirds cashing out of U.S. for good

People walk along the beach in Surfside, Fla. on Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2024. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP/Lynne Sladky)

The number of Canadian “snowbirds” planning to sell their second homes in sunny Florida and Arizona has surged this spring, many of them put off by the sudden chill that has blanketed relations between their homeland and the U.S.

Real estate agents say they are seeing more Canadians cashing out, further softening property prices in warm-weather states that have long attracted retirees and tourists from cold and snowy Canada.

Canadians spent close to US$6 billion on U.S. real estate from April 2023 to March 2024 - making up 13 per cent of all foreign transactions - more than any other nationality, according to data from the National Association of Realtors. Nearly half of the homes purchased by Canadians were for vacation purposes, with Florida, Arizona and Hawaii ranking as the top markets.

Last week, Tracy and Dale McMullen sold their vacation home in Buckeye, Arizona, a property they owned for five years. The Alberta residents, who usually spend four to five months in Arizona a year, said they are not planning to come back.

“We decided to sell the property after the current POTUS took office,” said Dale, referring to U.S. President Donald Trump, who was inaugurated for the second time in January.

“It was time to leave. We felt we could not trust what he might do next to us as individuals and to our country. We no longer felt welcome nor safe.”

Canadians are feeling stung by the actions and words of the Trump administration, which has imposed steep trade tariffs on its northern neighbour, threatening Canada’s export-dependent economy. Trump’s repeated suggestions that Canada should become a U.S. state, and his derogatory references to now-former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau as “governor” have annoyed Canadians and offended their national pride.

As a result, many Canadians are boycotting U.S.-made goods, such as bourbon and produce and canceling trips to U.S. destinations.

Canadian return flights from the U.S. fell 13.5 per cent in March from a year earlier, according to Statistics Canada. Canadian-resident return trips by automobile fell about 32 per cent.

Real estate is now facing a similar pullback in demand.

Laurie Lavine, a realtor in Arizona who helped the McMullens with their sale, told Reuters that he currently has 18 listings from Canadians looking to sell, compared with the usual two to four per quarter.

Trade friction and the current weakness of the Canadian dollar are also contributing to the pullback, Lavine said. Canadians are also feeling “picked on,” with U.S. border agents enforcing stricter rules on entering the country, he added.

Beginning this month, the Trump administration is requiring all foreigners 14 or older to register and submit fingerprints if they stay beyond 30 days. Canadians, who previously could visit for up to six months without a visa, are subject to the new requirement.

Florida hit hard

The sour feelings that many Canadians suddenly feel toward the U.S. are having a big impact on the property market in Florida, one of the closest warm-weather states to Ontario and Quebec, Canada’s most populous provinces.

“South Florida’s residential market has for decades been reliant on the annual influx of Canadian snowbirds who either own property and pay property tax or rent for the winter months - either way, a boost to the economy,” said Ermengarde Jabir, a director of economic research at Moody’s Analytics.

The first quarter is typically the peak buying season for condominiums in the region, coinciding with when many snowbirds are in town, said Andrea Hartmann, managing partner of the Sandy Hartmann Group, a real estate firm in the Tampa Bay area.

“Since the beginning of the year we have not received an offer from a Canadian buyer even once, and normally we would,” she said.

Florida’s housing market is already reeling. Prospective buyers have faced rising insurance premiums, concerns over climate change and a series of devastating hurricanes in recent years.

In the Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater region, mortgage lock volume for second homes - or the number of buyers securing rates ahead of purchases - fell 25 per cent on a year-over-year basis in the first quarter of 2025, according to Optimal Blue, a mortgage technology and data company.

“Now with the political issue, the cost of maintaining a place here in Florida and the insurance, a lot of them decided to sell and go,” said Ken O’Brian, owner of Southwest Coast Realty in Naples, which has specialized in helping Canadians purchase properties in Florida for about 20 years.

“There is no incentive to come to the States anymore,” said Donny B., a native of Ontario who is looking to sell his two investment properties in Florida. Like many snowbirds interviewed for this story, he declined to give his surname, saying he feared backlash.

He said he decided to sell because of the political uncertainty, the exchange rate and concern about whether Floridians would still welcome Canadians in the current climate.

“I got down here on Wednesday and I was nervous. I’m like, ‘are people going to be ‘pissed off’ at me?’”

Other states have started to see an exodus as well. Agents in Los Angeles and Palm Springs, California, are working with Canadian sellers who are quietly preparing to let go of their second homes, said Fatima Malik, global real estate advisor at Engel & Volkers Beverly Hills.

“Some are holding back to see how things play out, but others are already shifting their sights toward places like Portugal, Mexico, and parts of France,” she added.

Reporting by Doyinsola Oladipo in New York and Mrinalika Roy in Bengaluru; Editing by Frank McGurty and Paul Simao