Survey suggests fewer Canadians travelling to U.S., but Windsor tunnel traffic holding steady

A new poll shows that fewer Canadians are crossing the border. But what does that look like in Windsor? CTV Windsor’s Chris Campbell has more.

A new survey suggests many Canadians are reconsidering trips south of the border, but officials in one of the country’s busiest border communities say the picture is more nuanced.

A poll conducted by Nanos Research found 43 per cent of Canadians say they are less likely to travel to the U.S. this year, a trend some Windsor residents say reflects their own plans.

“We’ve stopped traveling stateside as soon as everything happened as far as with the new administration and so on,” said Windsor resident Josie Zannese.

Her husband, Rick Zannese, said concerns about the political climate and how Canadians may be treated at the border have made them hesitant to return.

“Until things change across the river here, as far as the leadership and the comments, we don’t feel welcome,” he said.

Another Windsor resident, Jackie Beneteau, said she also has no plans to cross the border in the near future, despite recently renewing her passport.

“I really have no desire to go over the states,” she said, adding uncertainty around global events is also playing a role in her travel decisions.

At the Detroit–Windsor Tunnel, however, officials say cross-border travel has remained relatively stable despite broader declines.

“We look at our numbers on a daily basis, and the tunnel is a bit of an anomaly when it comes to cross-border traffic,” said CEO Tal Czudner.

“Overall, for the 13th month in a row there are less Canadians going to visit the U.S. But here at the tunnel we’ve actually maintained really close to our pre-January 2025 numbers.”

Czudner said traffic through the tunnel is down about five per cent compared with earlier levels, largely because commuters and sports fans continue to cross regularly.

But discretionary travel — such as shopping or spontaneous trips — has dropped more sharply.

“Discretionary travel is really down around 20 per cent,” he said.

Czudner said the tunnel’s location connecting downtown Windsor and downtown Detroit helps it remain attractive for travellers, especially commuters and those attending events.

“We’re really the only border crossing that goes from a downtown city to another downtown city,” he explained.

Despite the hesitation expressed by some residents, others say crossing the border remains part of everyday life.

Windsor resident Jeremy Dorian, who travels to the U.S. periodically for work, said he has not experienced problems at the border.

“It’s not bad, actually. It’s not bad at all. A lot faster than it used to be,” he said.

Dorian said he still enjoys visiting the U.S., though costs can be a factor.

“I love the States. I think it’s great,” he said, adding he would like to take his children to a waterpark resort in Ohio for March break, but high prices and the weaker Canadian dollar make trips more expensive.

Tourism officials say the survey reflects a broader trend they have been watching develop in recent months.

Gordon Orr, CEO of Tourism Windsor Essex Pelee Island, said many Canadians are choosing to stay closer to home.

“I’m not surprised, because all indications since President Trump has come into office, there’s been this trend and this trend has been that Canadians have a great sense of pride and they’re staying close to home,” Orr said.

“What they want to do is support Canadians.”

Orr said Canada is the largest international tourism market for the U.S., with roughly 22 million Canadians visiting annually in typical years.

“We’re their biggest visitor segment market, and they’ve seen a cut without question,” he said.

At the same time, Windsor-Essex continues to rely on cross-border travel, with about one-third of visitors to the region coming from the U.S.

“Over 5.7 million visitors a year come to Windsor-Essex, but 1.7 million are from the U.S., and 300,000 of those visitors stay overnight,” Orr said.

He said tourism operators are seeing a shift toward domestic travel as Canadians choose to explore destinations closer to home.

“What we’ve noticed since COVID was there’s been a huge trend to support local, and that’s what’s happening still to this day,” Orr said.

While spontaneous trips across the border may be declining, Orr said the deep ties between Windsor and Detroit mean travel between the two cities is unlikely to disappear.

“What’s happened is the spontaneous traveller — ‘let’s go to Eastern Market on Saturday, let’s go over to Greektown for dinner’ — that has ceased,” he said.

“And Detroit is feeling the effects of that for sure.”