California Governor Gavin Newsom just announced a new tourism plan to lure them back. This announcement was made on the same day that he met with British Columbia Premier David Eby. The campaign aims to re-engage Canadians, highlighting the state’s diverse attractions and experiences, which Newsom emphasized in a video message shared on the social media platform X.
And last year, an estimated two million Canadians visited California, Newsom said. California has a little bit of magic for everyone,” he said, highlighting the inherent draw that California has on a diverse audience. This initiative comes against the backdrop of aggravating tensions caused by the Trump administration’s trade wars. These policies have caused tremendous damage on bilateral ties across the Canada/United States border.
Eby welcomed Newsom’s leadership in fighting the tariffs that former President Trump slapped on California’s agriculture exports. Governor Gavin Newsom of California has bravely contested these tariffs. He subsequently filed a lawsuit in U.S. district court to challenge Trump’s ability to impose such trade barriers unilaterally, without Congressional approval. Eby expressed gratitude for California’s support, referring to Newsom as “an ally of Canada’s.”
Eby spoke about how significant local travel is for Canadians. He appealed to the public to refrain from travelling to the United States until the trade disputes are settled. “We have to keep the pressure up. We cannot stop right now,” he stated. “As soon as we ease up on the pressure, the president will go back to his preferred tactics of attacking us.”
Recent figures released by Statistics Canada show just how deeply the trade war with the United States has bitten. In March, Canadian auto return visits to the US were down 32 percent compared to the same period last year. Flight Centre Travel Group Canada, an international travel agency, recently announced that air travel between Canada and the U.S. in February was down almost 40 percent from last February. Meanwhile, business air travel bookings dropped by 10 percent over the same time period.
Eby noted that his own family had to call off their soon-to-be trip to Disneyland in California. They’d already sunk $1,000 in non-refundable tickets before the trade war kicked up last year under the Trump administration.
“It’s difficult for me because here’s a guy — and a state, a major economic partner of ours in British Columbia — onside on the tariffs, fighting the Trump administration,” Eby mentioned while addressing his concerns about travel to the United States.
It’s encouraging that both leaders understand the positive changes to the U.S.-Canada relations environment. Newsom noted that “the state of mind in the United States of America has dramatically changed” regarding its approach to Canada. He delivered a very positive message reminding Canadians to continue coming to California in spite of all those tensions.
Eby’s comments struck a buoyant tone, sounding hope for warming relations between the two areas.
“And that is a multi-billion-dollar impact that has meaning in the United States that is pressuring the Trump administration, that is resulting in the kinds of things that we’re seeing, which is the walk-back of tariffs, the talk about agreements following the federal election.” – David Eby
