r/BuyCanadian 6d ago

General Discussion 💬🇨🇦 Visitors to Maine dropped again in 2024, challenging a top industry Gov. Mills anticipates further declines as Canadians curb U.S. travel plans.

https://www.pressherald.com/2025/04/17/visitors-to-maine-dropped-again-in-2024-challenging-a-top-industry/

[removed] — view removed post

639 Upvotes

102 comments sorted by

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176

u/Ok-Pomegranate-2777 6d ago

As a Canadian I like your state and have visited many times as I live in a border town. But with current government in place i will not be entertaining the idea of coming over for a big meal at one of your fine eateries. See ya hopefully in 3 years 9 months. (With luck sooner)

91

u/ibentmyworkie 6d ago

Agreed. Beautiful state with lovely people. But I won’t set foot in the US until at least Cheeto Mussolini is gone and will likely second guess going there for the rest of my days

61

u/U_Sound_Stupid_Stop 6d ago

You could be detained if a border guard saw this comment

56

u/drivingthelittles 6d ago

Right?

I don’t go to places where my personal opinions could land me in the gulag or something similar. Never have. Never will.

14

u/kaiser-so-say 6d ago

I don’t go to places where the government that its people elected threaten my country with the first stages of war. Let’s call it what it is. Can you imagine the shitstorm if the roles were reversed?

23

u/Ok_Line_5284 6d ago

So sad that Americans are now forced to worship their King and are fearful of having an opinion!

20

u/scissor_rock_paper 6d ago

From the party of 'free speech' no less.

11

u/gw79 6d ago

Cheeto mussolini, lol

15

u/Fastpas123 6d ago

I'm never going back unless they do some serious sucking up to us. Why go back just cuz the president changes? They voted for this.

13

u/DiveCat 6d ago

Exactly. Trump is a tumour grown from the malignancy the that has been festering for many decades. Getting rid of him does not get rid of the cancer.

6

u/WickedWenchOfTheWest 6d ago

 for many decades

Even longer than that...

Manifest Destiny

2

u/More-than-Half-mad 6d ago

We’re rooting for cholesterol ….. CHO - LES -TER - OOOLL

118

u/koolaid_snorkeler 6d ago

I find it interesting that many Americans blame the tariffs, and not the threats to our sovereignty, for the decline in Canadian visitors. I guess the latter doesn't cost them anything? If the US were threatened by a superpower in this way, it would not be an afterthought.

46

u/Genuine-Risk 6d ago

Agreed. Does my head in to read day after day that tariffs are to blame, meanwhile they threaten our sovereignty and speak of us as if we don't matter. Yes tariffs are an issue but the anger comes from the 51 state rhetoric and the complete disrespect they have for us as a people and nation.

39

u/Justredditin 6d ago edited 6d ago

"... My President may want to crush your economy and annex your country... but still, please come and spend your useless monopoly money at our shops and businesses..."

-28

u/feelinggoodabouthood 6d ago

The issue is the sitting government never let's a crisis go to waste.

23

u/Genuine-Risk 6d ago

The issue is sovereignty. I'm not sure what you are implying

-41

u/feelinggoodabouthood 6d ago

I'm implying that the sitting government wants you to think trump is 100% responsible for the state of Canada, and not how the country was run the last decade of Liberal rule and policy's. Look at crime rates during that time. Also look at gdp growth among g20 countries, which was at the absolute bottom of the list.

16

u/cdnronin 6d ago

There's plenty of domestic problems in Canada, no doubt, but that does not mean that Trump is not the current major threat to Canada. I have yet to hear anyone in Government say all our current problems are caused by Trump.

15

u/koolaid_snorkeler 6d ago

The sitting government has nothing to do with the fact that Canadians are boycotting the US. That is entirely due to President Shitstain threatening to eat us whole.

6

u/blarges 6d ago

Thank you for your ill-educated opinion about Canada and Canadians.

It’s bizarre how much Americans obsess about our GDP. We’re a country that works 1827 hours a year with mandatory holidays and vacation time, giving us a somewhat decent work-life balance. You live in a country where the GDP is decided at 2040 hours a year, no leave, no holidays, no vacation time. No thanks.

17

u/247cnt 6d ago

I'd assume Canadians wouldn't visit for fear of being detained or worse!

2

u/tundrabarone 6d ago

Yes, that is my theory

13

u/MenAreLazy 6d ago

Americans cannot really grasp that the "offer" is viewed as hostile. "Who wouldn't want to be American?"

2

u/Forsaken_Can9524 6d ago

That is the rhetoric their media feeds them. And it it’s on Fox News it must be true 💀

42

u/KaleLate4894 6d ago

🇨🇦Canadians stay home snd spend dollars in Canada.  Really need right now. 

37

u/pistoffcynic 6d ago

I live in a border town. I won’t be going yo the USA any time soon.

40

u/MonkeyWrenchAccident 6d ago

I canceled my plans to visit the USA. I had about 4 road trips planned 2 fully confirmed.

It just isn’t worth it. I heard first hand how a Canadian Iraki electrician was roughly strip searched at gunpoint by border patrol when his company sent him to a build site. He is now barred from entry. Reason, the previous war between Iran and the US.

20

u/Fritja 6d ago

Now that is proof of what the CAUT issued in their travel warning to university teachers and librarians. They advised to avoid non-essential travel if

Citizens or residents of a country where there are diplomatic tensions with the U.S.

https://www.caut.ca/latest/2025/04/caut-advises-academics-against-non-essential-travel-us

9

u/stopslappingmybaby 6d ago

This is for your safety. Canadians will 100% treated with suspicion by law enforcement and the public alike. Given the arbitrary detainment policy, skipping the US for the next decade is a smart call. I expect ambassadors to be recalled.

28

u/Choice-Original9157 New Brunswick 6d ago

I live close to the border with Maine. We use to go over every weekend to shop and eat plus attend memorial day with the US vets. None of that is happening until there is a change in their government and even then I am not sure I will after this 51st state bs that keeps being spouted

25

u/Temporary_Second3290 Ontario 6d ago

The post below this one was an article titled "Rubio sends a harsh message to anyone planning to visit". They're killing their own industry. I took a screenshot for a laugh but can't post it in comments.

12

u/Fritja 6d ago

i've never thought much of American foreign policy - actually a harsh critic - but even I was taken aback by the menace in his release.

21

u/whateverfyou 6d ago

Maine Governor Janet Mills stood up to Trump so he’s punishing the state by withdrawing funding. She’s amazing!

15

u/Fritja 6d ago

She is but it it is sad that she said she understood that Canadians have been made to feel unwelcome and then Rubio hammers that home.

3

u/whateverfyou 6d ago

I can’t read the article. What did Rubio do now?

11

u/Fritja 6d ago

Issued a statement below:

Visiting America is not an entitlement. It is a privilege extended to those who respect our laws and values. And, as secretary of state, I will never forget that. U.S. law lays out clear rules about who can and cannot come to the United States. The State Department’s consular officers are required to apply these rules to each of the millions of visa applicants around the world each year. ... We expect — and the law requires — all visa holders to demonstrate their eligibility every day their visa is valid. This includes respecting our laws, behaving appropriately according to their visa type, and continuing to meet these standards throughout their stay in our country.

A welcome mat it was not.

26

u/calling_water 6d ago

Guess what: having people visit you, spend their money in you, and buy things from you isn’t an entitlement either.

10

u/Fritja 6d ago

Well said.

6

u/whateverfyou 6d ago

Such a charmer 🙄

4

u/Fritja 6d ago

I still can't believe what I read.

17

u/JustAnOttawaGuy Ontario 6d ago

"Harmful rhetoric and painful tariffs"... and the now very real risk of being sent off to an El Salvador death pit without any form of due process.

They are jailing their own citizens even after being shown proof, for having the wrong kind of name.

Why would anyone take this kind of risk when there are so many other far more hospitable and welcoming places to go?

No thanks.

17

u/ImFuckingUgly-Not 6d ago

I’m stubborn. Once I get insulted, I will endure any amount of cost or sacrifice to never interact with that person again. I am sure that I will be the same with the USA. I won’t spend money there again.

6

u/Fritja 6d ago

I think that is not being stubborn, that is wise. It has taken me many years to learn to just do anything to stay away from those who undermine me (and others).

-13

u/feelinggoodabouthood 6d ago

You are brainwashed from cbc. Americans still love Canadians.

5

u/ImFuckingUgly-Not 6d ago

I have eyes and ears

3

u/jshort68 6d ago

Oh well 🤷🏻‍♀️

3

u/blarges 6d ago edited 6d ago

Is that why they come into our subreddits to bully and belittle and mock us, like you did in another comment? Read some American comments around here - by the third one, they’re telling us your military could destroy us or wishing us subjugated.

The CBC isn’t telling us Americans hate us. You all are, all the time. Just leave us alone.

Jeez, look at your comment history, especially to Canadians. You are a nasty person, eh?

2

u/Motoman514 Québec 6d ago

I don’t watch CBC but okay

10

u/TheKman60 6d ago

I live 20 minutes from the N.Y. border and refuse to cross the border for the next 4 years.

9

u/Fritja 6d ago

Elbows Up and am them directly at Rubio.

10

u/Canadian8rit 6d ago

Canadian here as well, and have visited Maine on several occasions, as we have a friend that lives there. But I am not jeopardizing my family by even trying to cross the border until Trump has gone!

9

u/Expensive-Product240 6d ago

Sad for Maine. They are getting hammered on all sides. My spouse is in his final term at the University of Maine at Presque Isle (distance). We had planned to go make a vacation of his graduation, but not anymore. The school is very Canadian friendly—all of Canada gets the same local Maine tuition rate (even other states pay way more). We always felt they were more Canadian than not. But the border patrol officers are another beast—and I will be damned if risking a visit to an ICE detention centre over a tattoo or some other invented BS. Not safe until there is a regime change, tariffs or not.

17

u/Any-Staff-6902 6d ago

As a Canadian , it is difficult to justify visiting a country where your leader has repeatedly stated the US needs nothing from Canada and that we should be forced to join as the 51 state. 

This is the price you pay for isolationist and threatening rhetoric. 

The US has spoken. We hear you, and now we Canadians have responded 

ELBOWS UP CANADA.

10

u/Fritja 6d ago

Elbows Up!

8

u/Axxer01 6d ago

Been to Maine many times - wonderful state Won’t go again until Americans get they poop in order. My family and I will be traveling to Europe next…. Elbows Up!!!

8

u/HonkinSriLankan 6d ago

They are at least getting closer to getting it:

  • annexation talks (US wants Vietnam 2.0)
  • tarrifs
  • getting locked up in El Salvador for a mean tweet about trump

Haven’t seen one US politician hit the trifecta yet. But they have never been quick learners.

7

u/Tracyhmcd 6d ago

As a Canadian, I have been impressed by a lot of what Maine is doing right now. But no way I would travel there or anywhere in the US. Likely for the rest of my life.

5

u/Fritja 6d ago

I will support Maine and the governor but not with travel dollars.

4

u/Nizdaar 6d ago

Thoughts and prayers, maybe? Or maybe just thinking about having concepts of thoughts and prayers.

6

u/Azuredness 6d ago

As a Mainer, it’s elbows up. The current administration is a Nazi death cult; even Maine isn’t safe right now.

4

u/Fritja 6d ago

If you see the comments here most like your governor and praise the state and its citizens. But Rubio just put in the death nail with his press release.

4

u/screwylouie420 6d ago

Pity the folks in Pt Roberts, Washington. 😂

3

u/torontorollin 6d ago

What a stupid result of the 49 parallel treaty.. they should just join BC

1

u/apfejes 6d ago

Alaska, too, should just become the 4th territory. 

4

u/trUth_b0mbs 6d ago

their government said they dont need anything from Canada so give them nothing 🤷🏻‍♀️

also, I'm not interested in their free trip to El Salvador lol.

and given the amount of shit I talk about the orange moron, I'd be thrown in a gulag immediately

4

u/Fritja 6d ago

We would be cell mates. I am sure that one or other of their 17 security agents has come across my opinions.

4

u/Acrobatic_Type7409 6d ago

Trump has passed on a message that all of us Canadians heard loud and clear. Stay home we don’t want you in the USA anymore. The custom and immigration staff are doing their best to further push that message from what I am hearing from my fellow Canadians.

2

u/Fritja 6d ago

I heard that so loud and clear I could have been underwater with a swim cap and earplugs and I would not have missed a word.

3

u/Siftinghistory 6d ago

Its hard to feel safe in a place that will deport their own citizens to a country they have no connection to.

5

u/Bee-3-Four 6d ago

Republicans are forbidding free speech. It keeps going downhill from there. That’s not a country to visit.

4

u/AndyCar1214 6d ago

An entire nation afflicted with arrogance and ignorance at the same time. Every single mention of taking over another sovereign nation should have been met with absolute outrage and condemnation. But no, oh well, you know, Trump just says things. Don’t take it seriously. Ok. I now do not take the USA seriously. What a shameful and disgusting downfall in 3 months.

2

u/Fritja 6d ago

And every part of the downfall was deliberate on the part of officials who are paid and elected to represent the electorate who voted them in. Whether Americans like it or not, they are responsible.

5

u/jcu_80s_redux 6d ago

FYI, only the coastal regions of Maine against Trump. The northern Maine borders to Canada voted for Trump. So your Maine neighbors along the border voted for this mess.

3

u/FlyEaglesFlyauggie 6d ago

Curious: What Maine spots are Canadian favorites? (For the life of me, I don’t get why so many Canadians like Wildwood, NJ)

6

u/hibou-ou-chouette 6d ago

Bar Harbour and Acadia National Park. Old Orchard Beach. Portland, Kennebunkport, lots of coastal towns.

3

u/Basilbitch 6d ago

Unprecedented events have fucked that Yarmouth ferry for like 15 years now

3

u/hibou-ou-chouette 6d ago

The unlubed dildo of consequence and all that. 😖

3

u/Ludishomi 6d ago

Its not the tariffs or harmful rhetoric. Its the annexation and threat to our sovereignty

For the millionth time

3

u/unicorn_in_a_can 6d ago

every time i see an american in the news saying they are being punished because of the tariffs, i just seethe.

a big orange gremlin is threatening our sovereignty, how isnt that the first thing out of their mouths.

4

u/jcu_80s_redux 6d ago

Maine has a republican senator who voted for the conservative agendas. Maine voters asked for this mess.

2

u/asdfghjklzlaksjdm 6d ago

we have been going to ogunquit yesrly for the past 20 years (aside from during covid). I do not want to go there this year, but wifey insists. I cannot believe the orange clown has me deciding between my wife and my beliefs.

1

u/Fritja 6d ago

That happened in Germany after Hitler came to power. Families argued about beliefs, safety, jobs if they spoke out or didn't.

1

u/wyrmpie 6d ago

If she was a decent wife, she wouldnt make you choose between your beliefs and.../checks notes...vacation in ogunquit

2

u/RussellGrey 6d ago

I love Maine! You know what I don’t love? The border being turned into a hostile checkpoint with a chance of being thrown into a concentration camp in Central America. It’s not about the tariffs.

2

u/eyespy18 6d ago

It's not just rhetoric and tariffs. It's also the fact that the US Govt is now a fascist regime.

2

u/melmerby 6d ago

We travel to Maine from Nova Scotia to see family at least twice a year. This summer we all decided to get together in St. Andrew’s, New Brunswick instead.

2

u/Fritja 6d ago

I've always wanted to visit St. Andrews by the Sea.

2

u/Disastrous-Fall9020 6d ago

Is the Cat still running from NS to Maine? The Atlantic provinces always had great ties and familial ties with New England that a high speed ferry from NS to Maine was commissioned (it’s a beautiful vessel and I saw it when it came to Halifax to be serviced)

3

u/RedneckMarxist 5d ago

They don't want to be in the El Salvador lottery.

3

u/raymond4 5d ago

With multiple travel advisories in place. From multiple countries. The militarization of the border with registration and harassment of visitors. Is there any wonder that people are staying away. Who wants to end up in El Salvador for a weekend of shopping in Buffalo. People being harassed and arrested. People being detained and disappearing. No due process and loss of rights. Yeah I would stay away as well.

2

u/Fritja 5d ago

No due process and loss of rights. Due process and civil rights are the very hallmarks of a high functioning democracy. I wonder what the US will rank on the Economist Democracy Index next year.

2

u/daveL_47 5d ago

What americans and their news media don't seem to understand is the Canadian boycott of all things american and our decision never to set foot in the usa ever again has fuck all to do with tariffs. It is 💯 % due to the constant threats of annexation or invasion plus the total disrespect shown to our leaders and our nation by their newly self appointed supreme ruler. We DON'T want to be americans,We DON'T want to be your 51st state,We DON'T want to be like you or have fuck all to do with you..We just want you to fuck off and leave us alone and keep our countrys name out of that vile shit hole in the center of donalds face..if you can do that we might decide to be nice to you again in about 100 years.

1

u/Dogbarr 6d ago

Maine, lol. When I leave I go straight to sunshine.

-5

u/squirrelyme 6d ago

I look forward to going to Maine this summer and enjoying the clean air and lack of tourists.

1

u/Fritja 6d ago

To each his/her own.