Canadians cancel U.S. business trips amid tariff anger and border fear

MONTREAL — First came the tariff threats. Then the annexation taunts.

But it wasn’t until reports surfaced about foreigners being detained while trying to enter the U.S. that Oscar Acosta decided to call off trips to three business conventions south of the border.

“That struck fear in my heart,” said Acosta, who runs Ottawa-based startup Body M3canix, which makes fitness-tracking devices for extreme environments.

The tech CEO was “undeterred until last month” — when he read about 35-year-old Canadian actress and entrepreneur Jasmine Mooney, who was held in detention for 12 days after reapplying for a work visa at the American border in San Diego and then banned from the U.S. for five years.

“Being an entrepreneur as well, being from a visible minority — because my background is Hispanic — would I not run into a situation like the one that this lady ran into?”

Acosta is not alone. Across the country, Canadians are cancelling business trips, withdrawing from conferences and avoiding future bookings to the U.S. as the backlash against President Donald Trump hits the world of corporate travel.

At Flight Centre Travel Group Canada, trips by air between the two countries declined by close to 40 per cent year-over-year in February amid a surge of nixed plans, said managing director Chris Lynes. Business bookings have decreased 10 per cent.

“We definitely had an immediate influx of cancellations for conferences that were meant to be in the U.S.,” he said, adding that scrapped bookings reached “fever pitch” two months ago.

“People had a lot of angst over travel down to the States because of the anger toward the U.S. government.”

Companies that pulled the plug — despite potential penalties or lost deposits — span sectors ranging from banking and insurance to manufacturing.

“One of the banking customers we had cancelled six programs to the U.S.,” said Lynes. Destinations included New York, Dallas and Washington, D.C., and especially Las Vegas.

Lynes’ own travel agency has let employees know it understands if they’re uncomfortable crossing the border to attend a company event in Los Angeles this summer.

“You can belong to a group that is being targeted. You may have a dual passport, you might be on a visa. There’s a lot of people who don’t want to travel because they just don’t feel confident and safe in doing so,” he said.

Nor is the ripple effect short term.

The cancellations extend as far as 2027, experts said. And upcoming corporate events without a set destination could wind up in Canada, Mexico or farther afield rather than in America.

While a broad wave of economic patriotism arose in response to tariffs both threatened and real as well as belittling jibes from Trump about Canada becoming the “51st state” and referring to former prime minister Justin Trudeau as “governor,” businesses were among those poised to feel the pain of a trade war most acutely.

But the adverse reaction was not universal, causing rifts at some organizations conflicted on whether to proceed with corporate retreats and mixed feelings among employees.

Some firms are going ahead with gatherings even as would-be attendees balk at the prospect.

A Royal LePage conference planned for Nashville, Tenn., in September will go ahead because the “dollars are already spent,” chief executive Phil Soper told staff in an internal memo seen by The Canadian Press. The message noted there had been uncertainty about the status of the gathering and that some agents might make the “difficult decision” not to attend.

“Financial commitments to secure the event were made long before the current political situation unfolded, and cancelling now would only hurt our own network — not Trump and not the U.S. economy,” he said in the April 10 memo.

The drop in corporate travel reflects a broader pullback from U.S trips.

Canadian return visits by car fell 32 per cent year-over-year last month, according to Statistics Canada. Plane trips home from the U.S. by Canadian residents declined 13.5 per cent.

Meanwhile, budget freezes and executive orders in the U.S. have helped dampen domestic travel there and sometimes into Canada.

In late February, Trump targeted trips by federal employees, ordering government agencies to prohibit travel without written justification. Trips are also subject to new reporting requirements.

“That meant that attendees coming to conferences in Canada, particularly if they were government employees, they weren’t able to come because they just didn’t have the travel budget,” said Minto Schneider, who chairs the board of Meetings Mean Business Canada, an advocacy group.

However, corporate bookings have stabilized since March, said Lynes, as companies continue to meet with clients.

“You’re a salesperson, you’re going down to solidify your relationships face-to-face with counterparts” — all the more important amid economic uncertainty — he said.

The decision to turn away — from team building, skill development or potential contracts — does not always come easily.

In Acosta’s case, he had already reserved hotel rooms for an “investor prospecting” trip to Boston in May and a California aeronautics conference in July. He was also registered for an aerospace conference early next year in Orlando, Fla., where he was invited to moderate several discussions.

“I bought some new tires to be completely safe. I planned the route … I even had my dog’s passport issued,” he said. “But I completely called them off.”

Now, he’s worried he may miss out on key opportunities to meet venture capitalists and raise funds. But he saw no other choice.

“Why would I put myself under any risk?”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 17, 2025.

Christopher Reynolds, The Canadian Press