For two countries sharing the world’s longest border (5,525 miles), just ‘getting along’ can be a challenge, but, for at least the past 211 years, Canada and the US have done a creditable job of peaceful tourism transfer. In 2024, Canadians made 39 million visits to their southern neighbour, Statistics Canada estimates, while Americans reciprocated with 23.5 million northward.

New tensions

But in the first six months of 2025 that pattern was upended by cross-border political and economic tensions involving economic sovereignty, tariffs, and national pride. The residue was ugly, and, according to Statistics Canada, the number of Canadians returning from cross-border trips in the first six months of 2025 plunged, with figures for June amounting to just 28.7% of the equivalent figure in June 2024.

According to the US Travel Association, that deep cross-border reversal will result in the US economy having lost US$5.7 billion by the end of 2025. And perhaps hardest hit by this reversal may be Canada’s fabled, but highly vulnerable, snowbirds – retirees who normally spend three to six months in the warm southern states in homes bought and paid for.

J Ross Quigley, CEO of Medipac International, which partners with the Canadian Snowbird Association in providing travel insurance for this highly committed group of winter trippers, estimated a drop of 15% in plan purchases by the end of August. But he cautioned that the winter season is a long one for Canadians and this might change: “The jury is still out.”

Dan Donnelly, President of the Toronto-based Travel Insurance Office, also a pioneer in the evolution of Canada’s snowbirding phenomenon, estimates a 30–50% drop in the winter market, suggesting that most ‘newer’ retirees tend not to spend three months in one place any longer; but, for the firmly committed, “there are only so many winters left for someone  aged 70 and up, and they still want to see their winter friends”.

In 2024 Statistics Canada estimated that Canadians made 39 million visits to their ‎southern neighbour, while Americans reciprocated with 23.5 million northward ‎

Skipping coverage

However, perhaps the most long-lasting tremor in this tourism shift is not the vulnerability of age – that’s a given – but the uncertainty of youth: the travel choices being made by Gen Z (aged 13–28) and millennials (29–44), who are demanding more ‘challenging’ and varied vacation choices and environments, and who are far less inclined to see costly travel insurance as a necessity, one they might put off until they get older.

This truth is verified by data from America’s leading online travel insurance marketplace, Squaremouth, which show that travellers up to age 49 (that includes both Gen Z and millennials) accounted for only 30% of cancellation plans and 39% of medical coverage plans to the end of September 2025.

Similar results and conclusions were revealed in a Canadian survey released by Maru Public Opinion for TD Bank in October 2024, which confirmed that though two-thirds of the Canadians surveyed said they were planning to travel within 12 months, a
third would not be purchasing travel insurance. Meanwhile, south
of the border, according to travel company Upgraded Points, “millennials lead the pack in skipping coverage, with 65% going uninsured in 2025”. 

In any comparison of Canadian and American travel insurance purchasing habits, it’s important to emphasise that American purchasers overwhelmingly opt for trip interruption or cancellation cover at the expense of medical. According to the US Travel Insurance Association (USTIA), trip cancellation and interruption packages accounted for approximately 94.7% of total consumer spending on travel insurance in 2024.

In a report released in late 2024, the US National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) revealed that half of young adults responding to a survey felt “overwhelmed or anxious” at the thought of dealing with insurance (any insurance), suggesting that many simply didn’t understand its value. In addition, only 27–36% could correctly identify terms such as ‘deductible’ or ‘copay’ or ‘out of pocket’. And one in three said they were going to wait as long as possible to get their own life insurance, while one in four said the same for health insurance.

Is it any wonder they would balk at the idea of reading a 36-page travel insurance pamphlet (or their online equivalents), searching out the intricacies of benefits, exclusions, keywords, limitations, and definitions?

No small job.