Businesses just over the U.S. border in Whatcom County say the loss of Canadian shoppers continues to hit them hard.
“There’s been a little bit of ups and downs, but right now we’re actually at a little bit more than 20 per cent of a loss of business,” Echo Mae, owner of the Northwest Yarns in Bellingham, told Global News.
“And yeah, that’s directly attributable to Canadians not coming down here.”
The loss of business has meant difficult decisions, including cutting staff hours and shifting away from luxury products.
“A lasting impact, and if this continues, would be that we’d have to shut down the business, and we desperately don’t want to do that,” Mae said.
The drop in business is not unique to Northwest Yarns.
A new report from Western Washington University estimates Whatcom County lost around U.S. $64 million in Canadian spending between 2024 and 2025.
In early 2025, the Donald Trump administration began levying steep trade tariffs against Canada and made threats of taking over the nation — prompting a backlash that included scaling back cross-border travel and spending on American goods.
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“The main takeaway from some of our research has been that Canadians who are still crossing the border are doing so less for economic reasons like shopping and purchasing gas, and more to visit family or friends or to recreate,” said Laurie Trautman, the director of the Border Policy Research Institute at the university.
The report shows Canadian shopping visits have dropped 71 per cent compared to 2019 — largely driven by the strained political and economic climate between the two countries and a weak Canadian dollar.
“Business were no longer treating this lack of Canadian visitors as a temporary situation that they sort of had to wait out,” Trautman said.
“They see this as a more medium to potentially longer-term scenario.”
While the loss of Canadian shoppers is significant, the Bellingham Regional Chamber of Commerce says the relationship between Canada and the U.S. goes far beyond retail.
“We’re here and ready to welcome all of you back when you’re ready to be back,” president and CEO Guy Occhiogrosso said.
Mae said that the familiar Canadian shoppers can’t come back soon enough.
“Oh gosh, we miss them so much,” she said. “We miss all of you so much.”
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Just become the 11th province or 4th territory.
Problem solved. We’ll be okay taking the Alaskans too
Aww…Too bad.
Peanuts for the peanut gallery. $64 million loss to an entire state? Pfft…
Speak for yourselves elbozos, I will happily visit the USA regardless of who is president!! Get this through your thick skulls: not all Americans voted for Trump!!
Great news!
Do not be fooled. The American people voted Trump in TWICE.
They are as much to blame
Washington state retail sales was approximately $241.2 billion in total taxable retail sales for calendar year 2025. A $64M hit because of Canadians not buying is a 0.0256% reduction. Not even noticeable.
Start a Go Fund Me.
The best part of this is that buy Canadian helps. The 1:40 $ plus exchange rate is the biggest factor. Ever c a deer in the headlights.
@Hesitant Damocles I agree with your comment and I said out loud reading the article, you don’t miss us, you miss our money. Regardless of the exchange difference, still won’t travel to states and don’t miss it.
Not wise to support America in any way. Walk away Canada, trade with civilized countries, not the USA.
Simple solution, folks, Vote Blue.
If you wait too long, you’ll find that Canadians have just got out of the habit of shopping in the States.
Of course it doesn’t have anything to do with our weak dollar,of course it does.Canadas dollar is weak 71 cents US dollar,.62 Euro,.53 British pound then you pay to convert.Canada is in trouble.Used to be on par when Harper was in.Its no wonder the Liberals ruined the country in every single area.
We lived in Cloverdale. 12 kms to the border. We crossed a lot. Then covid hit and we have not been back. We also cashed out and moved to the Shuswap in 2021. I am avoiding american items when and where I can.
As long as the Canadian dollar is weak, this trend will continue….last week it cost me $146.00 Canadian dollars to buy $100.00 US.
Get used to it, we aren’t coming back.
What the Elbows up crown fail to mention is our Canadian dollar is virtually on par with the Mexican Peso. Successive Liberal governments have wrecked our economy and made our dollar weak.
You don’t miss us. You miss our money.
Meanwhile, in Trump’s dementia, Canada has learned it’s lesson and is treating the US very well. – This is reality. The US relies on Canadian shoppers, even with the exchange rate. The US administration is treating Canada very badly.
In Trump’s dementia, Canada is begging the US to return to the bargaining table. This is reality. The US retailers are preparing for a long term (until Trump is out of office) drop in business and profits. Carney is stating that the resumptions are not close, as Trump just changed his tariffs, instead of removing them so negotiations can begin again. Trump is still calling for the annexation of Canada, and claiming he has annexed Greenland and Venezuela.
As long as the orange deranged and stupid man is in power, I will never step across the USA border. There are so many business owners that support the orange man but yet they cry because we Canadians stopped or slowed down shopping and spending our hard earned money across the border. Only the USA people can stop the orange man from being in power. He deserves to be in jail with his felony charges against him.