What Will Canadian Snowbirds Do This Fall?

At the Moment, Fewer Seem To Be Cruising Lake Champlain

A foursome of American trawlers moor in cozy anchorage on Lake Champlain last week.

A reconnaissance to Lake Champlain appears to confirm that the Canadian reluctance to spend tourist dollars in the U.S. this year applies to its cruising community as well.

Loose Cannon’s home base in Green Cove Springs on the St. Johns River is a boat storage hub for Canadian cruisers, to the extent that a local boatyard has named one of its storage lots “Canada.”

The question is: Will the Canadian sense of having been disrespected continue into winter when snowbird cruisers traditionally flock to American’s Southern states, mainly Florida? The waterfront city of Plattsburgh, N.Y.—just an hour-and-15-minute drive from Montreal—may be a bellwether for Florida next fall.

A couple dozen marinas line both sides of the big lake from from Burlington Vt. to the Canadian border. Champlain freezes in winter so docks and boats are typically hauled out, and slipholders are also hauled out and stored on the grounds, too.

For foreign readers a tad unfamiliar with U.S. geography, Champlain is a lake that is 107 miles long, 14 miles wide and averages 64 feet deep. The east side laps up against the state of Vermont and the west side against the state of New York, with a nib poking up into Canada’s Quebec province.

In the windshadow of the Adirondak Mountains to the west, Lake Champlain benefits from a microclimate. The valley is often referred to as the "banana belt" of Vermont with a longer growing season and milder temperatures compared other parts of Vermont, and, for that matter, New York State.

According to Vermont tourism officials, five percent of out-of-state visitors and 30 percent in northern parts are Canadian. Similar numbers likely apply to the New York side, including the city of Plattsburg, where we stayed. The Canadian tourism season begins in earnest on July 1, which is Canada Day—kinda sorta their Fourth of July.

Businesses in the Vermont city of Burlington have been reporting that Canadian visitors were down anywhere between 15 to 50 percent. The Boston Globe newspaper quoted Canadian officials as saying that roadtrips across the border to the U.S. were down by 32 percent compared to 2024, the third straight month of declines.

TV reporters caught Vermonter Tracy Stopford as she was loading her boat recently at the Ferry Dock Marina in Burlington ahead of Fourth of July celebrations. She said Canadians have been noticeably absent.

“We have been discussing amongst ourselves: I think that there’s 50 percent less Canadians docked out right now,” Stopford told WCAX television.

Visiting Plattsburgh marinas after the Canada Day weekend—there are five—Loose Cannon noted that many vessels with Montreal hailing ports were still resting on jackstands. To be sure, quite a few had been launched and lay in slips as well.

Last week, many Canadian boats at Plattsburgh marinas had yet to be launched.

Anyone paying attention is aware that the American government’s tariff initiative has generated quite a bit of anti-Canadian rhetoric, but as the Globe noted, that may not be the only factor:

Since President Trump took office this year with threats to make Canada “the 51st state”—and imposed tough tariffs and new border security measures—Canadian tourism to the US has plummeted…

The reasons go beyond tariffs. The US government has spooked Canadian tourists by requiring them to register if they’re in the country for 30 or more days—and by searching electronic devices at the border. The Canadian dollar remains weak compared to the U.S. dollar, making southerly shopping trips expensive.

However, as the U.S. dollar weakens as the result of uncertainty also created by the tariff initiative, the Canadian dollar has gained value by default. The Loonie, as it is called, has gained three percent in value against the dollar since President Trump entered office, and it is forecast to continue an upward climb.

That suggests that decisions by individual Canadian cruisers about whether to come back to Florida may be largely influenced by the state of U.S.-Canada relations going forward and to what degree Canadian cruisers will hold a grudge. Recent increases in cruising fees in the Bahamas may have made the entire region less attractive.

For sure, a lot of this reporting is anectdotal. If you are among our Canadian readership, please share your thoughts in the comment section below. You don’t have to be a subscriber.

Loose Cannon’s ride for a Lake Champlain visit was this 50-year-old New England center-console operated by Charles DeVarennes.