‘I put myself at risk’: Some local travellers rethinking trips to U.S.

Penelope Ortega was excitedly planning to attend her high school reunion in Miami this October.

The Aurora resident was born in Montreal but moved to Miami with her family, and attended high school in Florida. Having missed her school’s 20-year reunion, the 48-year-old was looking forward to attending the 30-year anniversary.

“This was the reunion that I was going to go back to,” she said. “I was really looking forward to catching up and we’re in a big WhatsApp group and everyone’s planning, and here I am realizing that I’m not going to be able to attend.”

Amid U.S. tariffs and reports of Canadians being detained in the U.S., Ortega said she cancelled those plans.

Ortega, whose family came to Canada in the 1970s from Chile as refugees fleeing the Pinochet regime, said she has a “reasonable fear I could be targeted” crossing the border.

Ortega also expressed concern that her Hispanic surname could make her a target.

“Another very important thing is my last name. I’m a Hispanic background and so even though I’m Canadian, being Canadian no longer kind of provides any type of protection against what I’m viewing now in the United States,” she said.

“It’s always been that really institutionalized racism, but with now the active and open support of the head of state, I put myself at risk, especially as someone who lived in the United States for so many years,” she said. “I don’t know what they’re going to presume about me.”

Ortega has also been a big supporter of buying Canadian, saying that was the main factor in her decision not to go to her reunion.

“I don’t want to spend any money there,” she said. “For me, it’s really about standing strong with Canadians and making sure that we’re not taken advantage of, and that our sovereignty is respected.”

Aurora snowbirds say ‘they’ll never go back’

Aurora retirees Janet and David Thacker have visited Florida for the past 15 years.

The pair recently returned from their annual trip to Sarasota, but said this time may be their last.

“Over all the years we’ve gone to Florida, we’ve been mindful, we’ve been cautious about where we’ve actually gone. So there are parts of Sarasota you go to and there are parts you don’t, like any city anywhere in the world,” said David Thacker. “This past year is the first time that I’ve ever felt like I need to be thinking about where I’m parking my truck with my Canadian, Ontario licence plate.”

“When we drive down every year, we stop in traffic or in gas stations along the highway,” he added. “I was much more anxious this year than I have ever been in the past. And it’s simply, I’m not sure who you can trust anymore.”

The pair were already considering cancelling their plans ahead of their Feb. 10 departure, but family members had booked flights down to travel. The pair usually stay in the same community, with some people apologizing for their president’s comments and others cracking jokes about Canada becoming the 51st state.

“People were very quick to tell us that they didn’t vote for Trump and they were very apologetic about how Trump was treating Canada,” added David, noting both Democrats and Republicans were apologizing.

David also usually takes an annual golfing trip to the States, but now the pair are looking at rejigging their future vacation plans.

Janet said they also noticed far fewer Ontario plates as they made the return journey north, adding there were only a couple of cars crossing the border on the way back into Canada.

“It was the end of March break, too, so it wasn’t just a Sunday, it was the end of March break,” she said.

In March, the number of Canadians driving home across the border U.S. dropped by almost 32 per cent compared to March 2024, the third consecutive month of year-over-year declines and the steepest plunge since the pandemic, according to Statistics Canada.

Border businesses that depend on travel are struggling, with Niagara Region councillors going so far as voting to restrict travel to the U.S.

Aurora, Newmarket travel agents adapting

Mario Settino, founder of Aurora-based MS Travel Concierge, said his U.S. bookings since January are down 80 per cent compared with the same period last year.

Settino said a variety of types of trips are seeing a drop in numbers, with bookings of trips to Disney taking a big hit.

“I usually book seven to 10 per year, and I have not booked one this year yet,” he said. “People would rather just take that same money or less money and go to a beautiful five-star all-inclusive for seven days.”

Settino said like the Thackers noticed, he’s heard from clients who have visited snowbird hot spots like Florida that there has been a big drop in Canadian visitors.

“Even in February and March when it’s very busy snowbird time, they’re seeing one or two Ontario plates a day,” he said.

Settino said rather than cancelling travel plans, his clients are looking elsewhere, saying March break was “crazy busy with travel,” with more people looking to Europe or package holidays.

“I’m very blessed that I have a very good client base who are repeats, they know what they want,” he added. “And 99 per cent of them don’t want the U.S. right now.”

Newmarket-based travel agent Naqi Ahsan of Blank Canvas Getaways said he hasn’t had clients cancelling trips, but knows of colleagues who have.

Ahsan has already had clients raise concerns about travelling to ports in Florida for their Caribbean cruises.

“The winter is where the U.S. ports come into play. That’s why I have some people booked already … you don’t book cruises last minute,” he said.

Ahsan said cruise travellers have limited options to adapt their plans, noting it’s either cancelling or they could choose to meet the cruise at a later port. But he said that would be “a very expensive option.”

“I don’t think a lot of people will do that because it’s very expensive. Not only that you’re missing part of the cruise, but your flights will become more expensive,” he said.

Both Settino and Ashan said they expect tariffs will see people tightening their belts, with Ahsan suspecting financial concerns will have a bigger impact on U.S. travel than reticence about visiting America.

“Of course, first thing they’re going to start cutting back is on discretionary expenses and I call travel a discretionary expense.”