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Binational panel warns decline in Canadian visits is hitting border communities and transport services
Summary
Experts on Canada‑US cross‑border travel and trade told the commission that Canadian visits to Washington have fallen sharply in 2025 and spending is down, stressing impacts on small border towns, ferry and air service and urging renewed binational coordination.
Laurie Trautman, director of the Border Policy Research Institute at Western Washington University, told commissioners that land‑border entries from Canada have dropped substantially in 2025 and that the region is entering a new normal of reduced discretionary cross‑border travel.
Trautman summarized surveys and count data showing a fall from roughly 8.6 million Canadian visits in 2019 (~$3.8 billion in spending) to an estimated 4 million visits and roughly $2 billion in spending in 2025. She said the decline is largest in Cascadia (Whatcom County and the Lower Mainland corridor), where cross‑border trips are heavily oriented toward shopping, gas and day trips — discretionary activities that respond quickly to exchange‑rate and policy changes.
Trautman cautioned that lower visitor spending has immediate local revenue effects: she cited Blaine’s border‑area gas‑tax receipts declining from ~$200,000 to ~$60,000 and observed reductions in ferry and airline service frequencies that depend on Canadian patronage. "We're really kind of facing a new normal," she said, adding that freight flows have been less affected but that political and economic shifts are reorienting some trade patterns.
Brandon Hardenbrook (PNWER) and Bruce Agnew (regional infrastructure accelerator) emphasized binational collaboration on trade and resilience, and Sean Cannell (Rep. Rick Larsen’s office) described federal priorities including land‑port upgrades and World Cup transit support. Panelists urged continued cross‑border planning for disaster response and supply‑chain resilience and recommended focused regional advocacy on USMCA review and transportation investments.
The presentation underscored ties between tourism, local tax bases and transportation planning and recommended elevating binational collaboration in state strategy.
