Cross-border journey from B.C. to Washington State drops, once more

Cross-border journey from B.C. to Washington State drops, once more

Published 12:30 pm Tuesday, April 7, 2026

Southbound border journey by B.C. residents took one other drop in March, with new numbers exhibiting journey has dropped by 55 per cent over the past two years on the 4 busiest crossings.

New information from the Cascade Gateway Border Data Warehouse and Whatcom Council of Governments for the Peace Arch, Pacific Highway, Lynden and Sumas factors of entry present the variety of automobiles with B.C. licence plates travelling into the U.S. fell to lower than half the quantity reported earlier than Donald Trump turned U.S. president and commenced speaking about annexing Canada, in addition to launching a commerce battle.

Southbound journey in March by B.C. automobiles and vans declined from 216,284 in 2024, to 123,592 in 2025, to 96,709 in 2026.

Volume for all plates dropped from 312,989 in 2024, to 172,990 in 2026, a forty five per cent decline.

New figures for the Kenneth G. Ward U.S. land crossing from Aldergrove into Lynden, Wash. present visitors fell a few third over the past 12 months.

Average weekly southbound volumes on the Lynden level of entry fell from a cumulative seven-day complete of 4,905 in March of 2025 to three,363 in March of this 12 months, a drop of 31.44 per cent. Figures for March 2024 weren’t obtainable.

A forecast by the U.S. Travel Association predicted the choice by many Canadians to remain away would imply a 3.2 per cent decline in worldwide tourism spending, and a lack of $5.7 billion U.S. that will put roughly 14,000 American jobs in danger.

Visit Seattle was projecting a 26.9 per cent decline in worldwide in a single day visitation to Seattle in 2025, nearly all of it as a consequence of lowered journey from Canada.

Several opinion polls have reported some Canadians are avoiding journey to the U.S. as a consequence of security issues, based mostly on experiences of violent techniques being deployed by ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) officers.

Destination Canada, a nationwide tourism group, reported many Canadians gave the impression to be taking part in vacationer in their very own nation as a substitute, with the home tourism spending up six per cent from the earlier 12 months.

More Canadians have additionally been going to Mexico, producing a 12 per cent surge in visits.