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Talk about a long winter.
The pandemic-led travel shutdown between Canada and the U.S., a ban on nonessential, cross-border land traffic agreed to by both countries, will last at least until Dec. 21. It may last longer, maybe through March, Canadian officials said in a series of tweets and statements in late November, citing rising COVID-19 cases in the U.S.
Travel between the countries hasn’t totally shutdown. Canadian citizens are permitted to travel to the U.S. by air, in an agreement between the administrations of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and President Donald Trump. But Trudeau, according to a report from news site The Center Square Florida, isn’t a fan of his country’s citizens leaving and then coming back — at least not for leisure. "People can make their own decisions," Trudeau says. "But a travel advisory from the government of Canada to not travel outside the borders unless it's essential travel is about as strong as we can go."
Outside of public health benefits, keeping the border closed through March freezes a big part of the Florida travel sector: Canadian snowbirds. Some one million Canadians spend up to six months wintering in the Sunshine State, according The Center Square report.
Several markets on the west coast of Florida will feel the pinch of not having Canadians come to town. Dunedin, for example, in Pinellas County, is home to TD Ballpark, spring training home of the Toronto Blue Jays. Other potential losses from a Canadian-less tourism season include:
• Canadians contribute an estimated $6.5 billion to Florida’s economy and $7 billion trade, according to Enterprise Florida’s Florida-Canada 2015-17 trade profile;
• The Lee County Visitors and Convention Bureau, another hotspot for Canadians, reports 215,000 Canadians visited Fort Myers and Cape Coral last year, spending more than $218 million; and
• Canadian travelers help support at least 620,00 jobs in the state, many in hospitality, according to a 2018 Canada-Florida economic impact study from Canada’s Miami consulate.
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