Canadians spend a long time in Florida winter, trading on Sunshine’s sunny beaches and frigid temperatures, and spending money in restaurants and hotels catering to Canadian tourists.
But President Donald Trump’s rhetoric and actions targeting Canada have paused Canadians about spending money in the US. Trump has repeatedly said Canada should become the 51st US state.
The Canadian replied, “rebreskz-moi?” Then, on April 28th, Prime Minister Mark Carney elected Liberal Party. And many Canadians have also abandoned their travel plans in Florida, according to Florida lawmakers.
In a May 1 interview with Jared Moscovitz, a Democrat who represents parts of Broward and Palm Beach counties, CNN’s wolf Blitzer said he’d heard of it from a friend in Boca Raton, Florida. Blitzer asked Moskowitz.
Moskowitz said:
When asked to comment from the Moskovitz team, his spokesman Christopher Bowman said Moskovitz referred to an April 2nd report by WPTV, a NBC affiliate in West Palm Beach. The WPTV report states, “Airline bookings from Canada to Florida have declined 76% this April, compared to April 2024.”
The WPTV report cited the airline’s OAG. In a blog post, the company said that April reservations recorded across the US Canadian market in March fell 75.7% compared to March 2024. No Florida specific figures are reported.
OAG said the nationwide drop “indicating that travelers are likely refraining from reservations due to the continued uncertainty surrounding the wider trade dispute.”
Other sources of data point to a decline in Canadian visitors to Florida, but found that it was less than 80% cited by Moscowitz.
In 2024, according to a visit to Florida, the state’s tourism division, more Canadians traveled to Florida than other means (1.1 million), including road travel (2.1 million).
Some data points to the decline in tourism in Canada, but the big picture is still not available
According to a visit to Florida, statewide estimated visitor data for the first quarter of 2025 will not be available until May 15th. In 2024, around 3.27 million Canadians visited Florida, accounting for around 2% of the state’s tourists.
Gov. Ron DeSantis’ office said in January and February that Florida saw “an increase in Canada’s air visits by 0.5%” compared to the same month in 2024.
Airlines and airports say they saw a decline.
OAG chief analyst John Grant told Politifact in early March that there will be 698,000 air seats or seats available to airlines between Canada and Florida from May to August. “It’s now 628,000, so that’s a 10% cut,” he said. He said his company’s data includes people booked on flights between Canada and the US, so travelers could be passengers connecting passengers from China, for example, to Denver via Vancouver.
Courtney Miller, founder of Aviation Data Firm Visual Approach Analytics, told Politifact that Canadian Airlines’ seats in Florida had fallen by 13% in May and 10% in June compared to the same period in 2024.
“We don’t see any data that suggests 80%,” Miller said. “We see Canada travelling to less than 25% of the US overall.”
Visual Approach Analysis Analysis showed that from January to March 27th, two Florida airports, Fort Hollywood International and Orlando International Airport, had the highest reduction in monthly arrivals from Canada Airlines at 20% and 12%, respectively.
Other Florida regions have also experienced a decline in travel. “Fort Myers and Palm Beach have fallen by 30% and 43%, respectively, compared to the April schedule that existed on January 1, 2025,” the analysis states.
A spokesperson for Miami International Airport told Politifact that the number of passengers arriving from Canada fell 5.9% from January 1 to April 23.
National data on Canada-US Road Travel also shows a decline.
US customs and border security data shows that around 4.1 million travelers arrived from the northern border in March 2025, compared to 4.9 million people at the same time last year. This is a 17.4% decrease. The data does not specify whether a tourist has entered the United States as a tourist.
Longtime Hollywood, Florida owner Richard Krave said over the years of the motels and hotel, his fortune has attracted Canadians, a gathering of pools and Friday night hot dog chefs. Clavet told Politifact that he saw a Canadian visitor fall in February.
“Many of them were blaming it for the political situation,” said Clave, who is from Quebec. “They weren’t happy with the way Trump was talking about the Prime Minister. They wanted to boycott the US and make a statement.
Clavet estimated in recent months that the number of Canadians staying at his property is 50% lower than last winter.
Usually, Canadians are in a hurry to book the following year, but that’s not happening this year, Crave said.
“They want a piece of sun that’s safe. The weather is great. That’s what I’ve been working on for so many years,” Kleve said. “I really enjoyed interacting with Canadians, and hopefully they’ll come back.”
Our arbitration
Moscowitz said Canada’s tourism to Florida has dropped by 80%.
His office pointed to information from a television report citing information from the aviation data company OAG. The company said airline bookings recorded in March across the US Canadian market in April fell 75.7% compared to 2024. No Florida specific figures were reported.
Other data sources have confirmed a decline in Canadian tourism to Florida, but far less than the percentage cited by Moscowitz. For example, individual airports in Florida said they have fallen from 6% to 43% in a few months.
The statement contains elements of truth, but ignores important facts that give a different impression. We value it almost as a falsehood.