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Winnipeg Free Press
4 days ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
Cheap, simple, last minute
Opinion If you're the average summering Canuck, chances are you're passing on America for your summer vacation. A new survey suggests a majority are holidaying in-country this year. The BMO Real Financial Progress Index found 62 per cent of respondents plan to vacation in Canada this summer. No doubt many are avoiding the U.S. tiffed at its current administration's stance toward Canada. Recent Statistic Canada numbers reveal border crossing to the U.S. were down more than a third year over year in June by automobile and more than 20 per cent by plane. Travel Manitoba In-country vacations are popular with Canadians, who are crossing the border into the U.S. less and less these days. Just because fewer of us are venturing south of the border, however, doesn't mean we're cutting back on holidaying with the survey finding respondents plan to spend on average $3,825. A little less than half scrimped on spending to save for summer, with about a third dipping into long-term savings. 'Many are just deciding that with the Canadian dollar … it's just more expensive to go to another country than just to stay in Canada,' says Tony Tintinalli, head of specialized sales at BMO. 'But they also understand that taking the break is important, and some are dipping into savings or have reduced spending earlier to have money for a summer holiday.' Yet what if you're among the slight majority who haven't saved and now with mid-summer upon us, a vacation increasingly seems like a financial impossibility? As the BMO survey shows, you're in good company, with three-quarters of respondents stating inflation has harmed their ability to afford just about everything, including vacations. That average spend of nearly $4,000 for a summer vacation is a big number, especially if you're grappling with higher mortgage payments and rolling credit card balances, says Mark Kalinowski, education specialist with Credit Counselling Society in Calgary. 'Summers can be really hard because you're likely taking the time off and maybe you're not even getting paid.' Then, there's child care and summer camps. To that end, BMO's poll found 61 per cent of parents aren't dolling out dollars for either. Kalinowski is familiar with tight budgets. He works with families who often struggle to afford groceries, let alone a summer vacation. He also has insight having grown up in a low-income household with many siblings. Summer vacations were unaffordable mostly. In turn, staycations were the family's jam, featuring frequent picnics in the park. 'The point is that summer fun with your family doesn't have to cost a lot of money,' he adds. Rather it's a state of mind. It's about spending time with the family rather than spending money on them. Hopefully, the result is having fun and building lasting memories, Kalinowski says. Camping is another option — though not everyone has the required gear, he adds. Some companies like offer complete rental packages, starting at a little more than $400 for a family of four for one week. If even that sounds steep, former debt counsellor Christi Posner, based in Winnipeg, has some tips. Now a fintech industry consultant, she has done plenty of 'reflecting on what makes a vacation feel like a break — and how to do that without blowing up' the budget for her own family. Although overnight and day trips inevitably cost money, they're still doable on a tight budget. After all, where there is a will, there is likely a way. Among the money generating strategies is decluttering your house of unwanted items and having a yard sale. Another potential cash source is rewards points, she adds. The BMO Index notes more than half of respondents are using rewards for their vacation this summer among other expenses. 'Don't overlook how helpful AI can be,' says Posner, whose work involves developing AI tools for financial literacy. 'Use it to compare flying versus driving costs or build a weekend itinerary around free events and cheap eats.' Just be careful when scouring for cheap, last-minute tickets for attractions, says a cybersecurity specialist. Chief security evangelist at ESET Tony Anscombe, based in the United Kingdom, says social media often lists fake, short-term rentals that seem like great, last-minute deals. 'Scammers will take pictures of an unrelated property and create a fake listing,' he says. They often note having a recent cancellation on Airbnb and that they have posted the property on Facebook, for example, at a low price for a last-minute booking. 'Typically they ask for payment through a strange means — like a wire transfer,' he adds. Monday Mornings The latest local business news and a lookahead to the coming week. Don't let desperation lead you to being duped out of money you fought so hard to find in the first place. Then again, a little desperation is understandable and even OK. It can be a motivating, creative force to your benefit, Posner says. 'You don't need to be rich to afford a summer vacation — you just need to be creative, intentional and true to your financial limits.' Joel Schlesinger is a Winnipeg-based freelance journalist joelschles@
CBC
06-06-2025
- Business
- CBC
Windsor unemployment rate climbs to 10.8% in May
Windsor's jobless rate is the second highest in Canada for the second month in a row, according to new data released Friday by Statistic Canada. The seasonally adjusted three-month moving average rose a tenth of a percentage point to 10.8 per cent in May. Only Peterborough had a higher unemployment rate at 11.2 per cent. The Windsor number is more than two percentage points higher than it was in May of 2024, when the unemployment rate in the census metropolitan area sat at 8.5 per cent. The rate surpassed the 10 per cent mark in April. Nationwide, the unemployment rate rose 0.1 percentage points to seven per cent in May, the highest it's been in nine years outside of the pandemic, according to Stat Can. There has been virtually no employment growth since January after strong gains in the fall, the agency wrote in its latest labour force survey.
Hamilton Spectator
24-04-2025
- Hamilton Spectator
Canadians and Americans alike souring on cross-border travel, new data shows, as day trips plummet
U.S. President Donald Trump's trade war with Canada hit North America's tourism industry quickly — and hard, according to new data from Statistics Canada . More than 450,000 fewer Canadians returned from trips to the U.S. in February compared to January, according to travel data released Wednesday . Much of the decline was driven by a nearly 300,000 drop in day trips by Canadians south of the border. While this marked the second consecutive month of fewer return trips from the States, February saw an even more dramatic drop than January when comparing Statistic Canada's year-over-year data for each month. There were nearly 18 per cent fewer Canadians heading home from the U.S. in February 2025 compared with February 2024. When comparing January 2024 and January 2025, there was only a 2.3 per cent drop. Wednesday's data is yet another sign that the U.S. tourism industry has become collateral damage for Trump's tariff threats, 51st-state jeers and hardline border policies as Canadians use their travel plans to push against what they see as an antagonistic government. In February, Flight Centre Canada saw a 40 per cent decrease in bookings to the U.S. compared with the year before, said Chris Lynes, the agency's managing director. This trend continued, he said, with bookings to the States again down 40 per cent in March. 'While some Canadians are travelling less to the U.S., Flight Centre bookings show a steady shift toward international destinations where the dollar stretches further, such as Mexico, Japan and Australia,' Lynes added. Meanwhile, U.S. Customs and Border Protection recorded a plummet of nearly one million travellers crossing the land border in March compared with the same month a year prior — one month after seeing a decline of 500,000 trips. Across social media, Canadians have been sharing that they're cancelling trips to the U.S. out of frustration with Trump's threats of tariffs and annexation to fears of the U.S. government's stringent border policies . The February data notably predates many of the reports of foreigners being detained at the U.S. border, as well as travel advisories issued by the Canadian government and other groups warning of visiting the States. It's not just Canadians souring on cross-border travel; Wednesday's data shows a more than five per cent drop in Americans heading north in February compared with the same month a year prior. In Windsor, where Canadians and Americans cross the border regularly for work, sports games and just to shop, there was a drop of around 14 per cent in border traffic in February, said Gordon Orr, the CEO of Tourism Windsor Essex Pelee Island. Any loss of American visitors could be significant for the region's $856-million tourism industry. According to Orr, about a third of the region's 5.6 million visitors in 2023 hailed from the States. Still, Orr said he is optimistic that there would be a good tourism season once it starts in earnest in May. Over in Niagara Falls, the local tourism industry is also feeling hopeful that Americans, who make up about 40 per cent of the region's 14 million visitors each year, will continue to visit this coming summer. 'We've built a friendship over many, many decades of cross-border travel,' said Janice Thomson, president and CEO of Niagara Falls tourism. 'So we don't see that going way quickly at all.' Even if there are fewer Americans, Orr said he expects more Canadian visitors to Windsor in the future as a result of the growing 'Buy Canadian' movement that's seeing droves of people interested in supporting local, including domestic travel. 'We were exhibiting at the Toronto Outdoor Adventure Show in February,' he said, 'and a lot of attendees came up to our booth and said, 'We weren't necessarily considering Windsor-Essex as a destination. But we're not going to the U.S. this year, and so we want to travel to other parts of Ontario.' ' 'So that's all very, very positive.'
