Since 2021, Marie and Georges* have rented a condo every winter in southeast Florida, near Hallandale Beach. For three or four months, they swapped snow for sand and enjoyed a peaceful daily life under the palm trees.
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“It’s fun there, the weather is nice, it’s warm, it’s pleasant,” describes the retired lawyer. Life is a bit like here. And you can go there by car. So we didn’t plan to end it. »
But the couple from the Lower Laurentians will instead find warmth on the west coast of Mexico this winter.
It’s a question of principles. It’s more than just the temperature and the beautiful beaches. Even though it’s true that Florida is beautiful, and it’s warm, and we’d like to be able to go there.
George
The 71-year-old man, met at his home before his departure, refuses to spend his money in a country in a trade war with Canada.
Political question
Installed in his dining room overlooking the river, the retiree with the thin white beard is also indignant at other policies of the American administration. He noted on a sheet of paper the subjects too serious in his eyes to ignore: the roundups of migrants, the sending of the National Guard in American cities, the injustices, a growing feeling of insecurity, linked in particular, he said, to policies against foreigners and permissive laws on the carrying of weapons. The unpredictability of the president’s decisions, too, who can sign a decree targeting Canada overnight.
So many reasons for him to choose another destination, he concludes, with a resolute look behind his dark glasses.
Next to him, his partner nods.
“It’s a bit like if you had always been friends with someone, but now they treat you badly and you say to yourself: we can’t be friends anymore,” summarizes the 70-year-old IT retiree.
Fewer Canadians in the United States
Winter visitors are not the only ones to boycott the United States: the most recent data from Statistics Canada, for the month of October, show a drop in travel from Canada to the neighboring country for the ninth consecutive month compared to the previous year. The US Travel Association anticipates a 3.2% drop in spending by travelers in the country for the year 2025, with fewer tourists from the northern border as the “main driver”.
Canadians are the main foreign visitors to American soil, notes the organization, generating some US$20.5 billion annually in spending. They also top the list of international travelers in Florida, which recorded more than 3.4 million Canadian tourists in 2024.
The exact number of snowbirds Canadians in the Sunshine State is difficult to know, but is estimated at approximately 1 million people annually, taking into account the number of Canadian visitors recorded during the typical wintering season, between October and April.
A certain cold
André Sauvé, retired from information technology, has also given up on the United States this year, after ten years of crisscrossing the Florida landscape aboard the recreational vehicle that he and his partner bought in 2014.
“We reserved our campsites and left at the end of January,” the 74-year-old said over the phone.
The couple chose Guadeloupe this year. A destination highly recommended by friends and family.
The Laurentians resident says he felt a certain coldness last year in his interactions with Floridians.
We tried to reserve a place, for example, and were told that there were no more places, but that was false. We waited for the person to leave their post, we returned and there was room. It’s little things like that that irritated us.
André Sauvé
Florida, like everywhere, has a great diversity of points of view, but Republicans are in the majority. Donald Trump obtained 56% of support there in the 2024 presidential election. Even if he acquired his notoriety as a typical New York real estate mogul, the president has also become a resident of Florida, where several key players in his administration come from.
Economic situation
In addition to politics, economics is an important reason for snowbirds from here who are abandoning the United States.
Florida has experienced significant population growth in recent years. Like everywhere in the country, inflation has caused prices to jump. Add to this the galloping costs of insurance, in a region vulnerable to hurricanes. And rising housing costs, as new laws force landlords to ensure the safety of their buildings, in the wake of the collapse of a condo building in 2021.
This increase in the cost of living also affects snowbirds from here. Especially since the Canadian dollar is weak.
PHOTO MARTIN ROY, SPECIAL COLLABORATION
Since 2009, Diane Parent and her partner have gone to Florida every year to winter. They stopped it last year due to rising prices.
The condo we rented was very expensive, at $4,000 US ($5,533 CAN) per month. But the guy renting announced he was increasing it to $5,200 US ($7,194 CAN) last year. It was too expensive. Everything was expensive.
Diane Parent
The retiree from the translation field, reached by telephone in the Ottawa area, used to spend several months in Sarasota with her partner since 2009. The first election of Donald Trump, in 2016, left her doubtful. “I didn’t understand why Americans had voted for this crazy guy and it depressed me, I asked myself: what am I doing in this country? said the 79-year-old woman. But I got used to it. »
Spain
What pushed the couple to change destinations last year was the cost of living. THE snowbirds set sail for the Costa del Sol, in Spain.
“It’s cheaper for almost everything,” notes Mme Parent. Especially for food and drinking wine. »
She and her partner do not have a car locally and travel by train and on foot. They spend two months there, which avoids them having to apply for a visa, required for Canadians in the Schengen area – which brings together most of the states of the European Union – for stays of more than 90 days per 180 day period.
If they usually stayed four months in Florida, it was mainly because it was easier to rent a condo for an extended period, she explains.
Couples of friends, also accustomed to Florida, will join them this year in Spain.
She has fond memories of Sunshine State. “We loved it when we went there,” she emphasizes. When we were younger, we exercised a lot. Then we had our friends there. But there, our friends will join us in Spain. »
* Marie and Georges asked The Press to conceal their true identity for the sake of security.
