Canadians Shun Florida as Trump’s Trade War Sinks Tourism

As Donald Trump moves to put “America” quite literally on the map, evidence is emerging that some Canadians may be responding with their wallets — and leaving his home state out of their travel plans.

New tourism data from Visit Florida shows about 1.68 million Canadians traveled to the Sunshine State in the first half of 2026, down 13.9 percent from the same stretch last year.

In practical terms, that amounts to roughly 270,000 fewer Canadian visitors over just six months.

The drop comes at a moment when the political backdrop is difficult to dismiss.

Lake Ontario is now officially being referred to in US federal usage as “Lake America,” after Trump signed an executive order on Thursday, intensifying an already rancorous dispute with Canada.

“We defend Canada for nothing, we don’t get anything,” Trump said.

“We love the people of Canada, but their representatives aren’t doing an appropriate job.”

The lake renaming comes as Washington and Ottawa are locked in a worsening trade fight, with tariffs, countermeasures and sharper political rhetoric putting new strain on what has long been one of the world’s closest neighboring relationships.

Trump has threatened a 50 percent tariff on Canadian cars, trucks and auto parts starting January 1, putting pressure on Canada to agree to a new trade deal.

The Trump administration imposed an additional 50 percent tariff on certain Canadian products effective August 19.

The White House says this is meant to counter what it considers discriminatory Canadian trade policies.

But Canada is fighting back. 

Canada has announced that it will match the new US tariffs dollar-for-dollar/rate-for-rate, with additional tariffs on about $27.6 billion of American goods beginning September 8.

The White House order does not mean Canadians are suddenly expected to call the Great Lake ‘Lake America,’ and it seems they won’t be any time soon.

The name change applies to US federal government usage. Canada remains free to use Lake Ontario – and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has made clear that is exactly what Ottawa intends to do.

‘The name Lake Ontario comes from the Wendat word Ontari’io, which, appropriately, means ‘the lake is beautiful, the lake is big,’ Carney wrote.

‘Canadians also know that naming reality means calling it Lake Ontario – then, now and always.’

The Sunshine State has long been one of the favorite destinations for Canadians escaping winter; destinations like Fort Lauderdale, Sarasota, Orlando and the Gulf Coast.

But the numbers are moving in the wrong direction.

Florida welcomed an estimated 73.5 million visitors from around the world during the first half of 2026, about 1.4 per cent fewer than during the same period in 2025.

Canadian tourism fell considerably faster.

The state recorded approximately 1.68 million Canadian visitors, compared with about 1.94 million a year earlier.

The decline is even more striking when compared with the pre-pandemic era.

Florida received around 2.29 million Canadian visitors during the first half of 2019.

This year’s figure is therefore roughly 610,000 below that level.

Canada remains an important tourism market for Florida despite the decline. The state welcomed an estimated 3.17 million Canadian visitors in 2025.

Florida’s figures are part of a wider shift.

According to Statistics Canada, Canadian residents made 29.1 million return trips from the US in 2025, a staggering 25.4 percent decline from the previous year.

At the same time, Canadians increasingly looked elsewhere, with overseas trips rising by 9.2 percent in 2025.

Trump has made geographic renaming a distinctive part of his presidency. In 2025, his administration directed US federal agencies to use ‘Gulf of America’ instead of the Gulf of Mexico.

And the president has suggested this won’t be the last body of water he renames.