Millions of Canadians changed where they spent their vacation dollars. The result wasn’t just a tourism boom at home... it became one of the biggest shifts of consumer spending Canada has ever seen.
Thanks, Fred. Love that this is happening. We need to do more to identify and develop welcoming environments. I live in Nova Scotia, on the coast outside Halifax. Never take it for granted for a second and until say 2020 it was just a fishing village, still has few amenities though it s been discovered and is being built up. But more to thempoint, for us elders, it typically has pretty mild winters. Most days until January light jackets are plenty, and it s easy to walk everywhere. We might have a snow day but it melts fast. Even in january and february, winters along the southwestern shore are much lighter. I worked in Ottawa where winter is serious and would have vacationed here had i known. Sometimes people can golf year round,many beaches are always there,towns are still charming and inns and evenings are delightful.lobsters and vinyards,crafters and antiques, whales and filmmaking, just off the top of my head.
Wow! Thanks so much for your comment. I had no idea NS was temperate.
My husband and I are retirees living in Ottawa. Prior to COVID, we spent winters in Florida. During the pandemic, we didn’t feel safe going there so we drove for 7 days to Vancouver Island!
Now with the current US administration, we continue to winter on Vcr Island. It’s beautiful there but so far and the trip is very tiring (and expensive with the hotel accomodations en route plus all the gas).
This year will mark our sixth winter there. Our money stays in Canada!! I love the idea of going to NS. So much closer to Ottawa and a part of our beautiful country I would dearly love to know better.
Very glad to hear it. I double checked. Barrington in the southwest corner has an average Jan/Feb temp of 2 to -3. Weather reports dont often account for the coast, just inland where it s a bit harsher. Sun worshippers will prefer summer of course and it does get intense these days but I love a bit of cool weather on my wild beach walks where few to noone else is around. Vancouver Island is indeed lovely and I considered retiring there but have no regrets. Still a bit of a drive from Ottawa, I used to do 11h15m to Fredericton where my family lived, so add on another 4 to 5 here. Or fly and rent a car. We still need to improve public transport but I m very hopeful the new federal investments, developments and people moving here for them will tip the authorities over into meeting fresh demand.
And the province is easy to bop around by car, +-3 hours from Halifax to most places except Cape Breton, and a bit more to New Brunswick and PEI for variety.
Thanks Fred for continuing such relevant and interesting articles with all the important data included.
We used to take our small campervan south each winter for shorter trips (2–4 weeks). The coast of South Carolina is surprisingly semitropical. In fact, the Vietnam jungle war scene in Forrest Gump was filmed at Hunting Island State Park. It was always pleasant to escape the winter weather here in Southern Ontario for these trips.
However, with the changing political climate in the US with Trump 1.0 and especially now with Trump 2.0, we decided to eliminate these previously enjoyable trips. At a campground, you meet many folks from different places, and some, especially the non-MAGA types from northern states were very pleasant. However, South Carolina is one of the most conservative states in the US, and interacting with an increasing number of MAGA types was not enjoyable.
We were planning to sell our camper anyways, since camping is harder for seniors like us. So we did sell it, and now take short "staycations" closer to home. In fact, as we don't expect to travel outside the country, we let our passports expire. There are so very many beautiful places to visit here in Canada, and our bucket list has grown proportionately. It's of utmost importance for all of us to spend our hard-earned dollars right here at home! Elbows Up!
Great article Fred! I love that so many Canadians said, frigyoudumbo, we're spending our money at home, some in Mexico, camping all across Canada, where camping fees were abolished for the season. We love parts of America, BUT, we love our own beautiful country MORE!!!! Bravo! Canada Strong!!!!!
Absolutely LOVED the way you framed/reframed that Fred! And reframing so often provides the biggest and best changes in how we’re thinking! Well, and the rest of it was pretty good too! 😂 🇨🇦
Like many Canadians our tourist dollars have stayed in Canada mostly. My husband has American children and this past May he visited them in Colorado. But personally, I haven't travelled to the US since 2015. We loved going to Texas! And we try very hard to not buy anything grown in the US and boycott Amazon. Now we are planning small trips around our province as there is lots of history and beautiful places to see and learn about! We are first Canadian and then Albertan.
Thanks, Fred. Love that this is happening. We need to do more to identify and develop welcoming environments. I live in Nova Scotia, on the coast outside Halifax. Never take it for granted for a second and until say 2020 it was just a fishing village, still has few amenities though it s been discovered and is being built up. But more to thempoint, for us elders, it typically has pretty mild winters. Most days until January light jackets are plenty, and it s easy to walk everywhere. We might have a snow day but it melts fast. Even in january and february, winters along the southwestern shore are much lighter. I worked in Ottawa where winter is serious and would have vacationed here had i known. Sometimes people can golf year round,many beaches are always there,towns are still charming and inns and evenings are delightful.lobsters and vinyards,crafters and antiques, whales and filmmaking, just off the top of my head.
Yes Nova Scotia is beautiful. Have been there many times.
Wow! Thanks so much for your comment. I had no idea NS was temperate.
My husband and I are retirees living in Ottawa. Prior to COVID, we spent winters in Florida. During the pandemic, we didn’t feel safe going there so we drove for 7 days to Vancouver Island!
Now with the current US administration, we continue to winter on Vcr Island. It’s beautiful there but so far and the trip is very tiring (and expensive with the hotel accomodations en route plus all the gas).
This year will mark our sixth winter there. Our money stays in Canada!! I love the idea of going to NS. So much closer to Ottawa and a part of our beautiful country I would dearly love to know better.
Thank you for your post.
Very glad to hear it. I double checked. Barrington in the southwest corner has an average Jan/Feb temp of 2 to -3. Weather reports dont often account for the coast, just inland where it s a bit harsher. Sun worshippers will prefer summer of course and it does get intense these days but I love a bit of cool weather on my wild beach walks where few to noone else is around. Vancouver Island is indeed lovely and I considered retiring there but have no regrets. Still a bit of a drive from Ottawa, I used to do 11h15m to Fredericton where my family lived, so add on another 4 to 5 here. Or fly and rent a car. We still need to improve public transport but I m very hopeful the new federal investments, developments and people moving here for them will tip the authorities over into meeting fresh demand.
And the province is easy to bop around by car, +-3 hours from Halifax to most places except Cape Breton, and a bit more to New Brunswick and PEI for variety.
OH and hurricane risk unofficially over by early October as the ocean cools fast then and stops their progress.Way better than Florida.
Plans are already locked in for this winter season, but I will definitely keep this in mind going forward. Thank you!
Hope you find joy whenever you come.there s lots here. good weather too.
I lived in NS for a long time & travelled every inch of her, keeping our money mostly in Canada!
Thanks Fred for continuing such relevant and interesting articles with all the important data included.
We used to take our small campervan south each winter for shorter trips (2–4 weeks). The coast of South Carolina is surprisingly semitropical. In fact, the Vietnam jungle war scene in Forrest Gump was filmed at Hunting Island State Park. It was always pleasant to escape the winter weather here in Southern Ontario for these trips.
However, with the changing political climate in the US with Trump 1.0 and especially now with Trump 2.0, we decided to eliminate these previously enjoyable trips. At a campground, you meet many folks from different places, and some, especially the non-MAGA types from northern states were very pleasant. However, South Carolina is one of the most conservative states in the US, and interacting with an increasing number of MAGA types was not enjoyable.
We were planning to sell our camper anyways, since camping is harder for seniors like us. So we did sell it, and now take short "staycations" closer to home. In fact, as we don't expect to travel outside the country, we let our passports expire. There are so very many beautiful places to visit here in Canada, and our bucket list has grown proportionately. It's of utmost importance for all of us to spend our hard-earned dollars right here at home! Elbows Up!
Excellent Fred, stay home
We chose to stick to the island this year. Living forest is nice, but very full this time of year.
It does my heart good to see all the ways Canadians are using to stand up for themselves against our ridiculous, hateful tariffs! Well-played!
Great article Fred! I love that so many Canadians said, frigyoudumbo, we're spending our money at home, some in Mexico, camping all across Canada, where camping fees were abolished for the season. We love parts of America, BUT, we love our own beautiful country MORE!!!! Bravo! Canada Strong!!!!!
And, you can't beat the excellent variety of food across Canada! Fresh, varied and delicious!
Absolutely LOVED the way you framed/reframed that Fred! And reframing so often provides the biggest and best changes in how we’re thinking! Well, and the rest of it was pretty good too! 😂 🇨🇦
Like many Canadians our tourist dollars have stayed in Canada mostly. My husband has American children and this past May he visited them in Colorado. But personally, I haven't travelled to the US since 2015. We loved going to Texas! And we try very hard to not buy anything grown in the US and boycott Amazon. Now we are planning small trips around our province as there is lots of history and beautiful places to see and learn about! We are first Canadian and then Albertan.