Martin Buck and his wife, Irene, crossed the border into Canada on Jan. 20, the same day Donald Trump was sworn in as the 47th president of the U.S.
The Mill Bay residents said they have never been so happy or relieved to be back home.
“I remember the customs guys said something pleasant like: ‘How are you?’ And I said we’re really glad to be back in Canada. Then he said: ‘Funny — everybody’s been saying that today.’ ”
The Bucks, snowbirds who have been spending time in Arizona each winter since 2008, bought a home there in 2010. They are among countless Canadians who have decided to come home early this year or sell up entirely and avoid the U.S. until the end of Trump’s second term in the White House.
Since Trump’s first day in office, he has insulted Canada’s leadership, made threats of annexation, mused that Canada would be a “great 51st state” and signed an executive order — Protecting the American People Against Invasion — that will require snowbirds to register before heading south.
The order requires visitors staying 30 days or longer to register with the U.S. government and obtain an admission record, if one was not issued automatically.
Most travellers are automatically registered with an I-94 admission record when they cross the border into the U.S.
Rudy Buttignol, president of CARP, the Canadian Association of Retired Persons, said this kind of travel restriction is just another barrier.
“People are annoyed, irritated and shocked by this. It’s like a family member who’s all of a sudden gone crazy,” he said. “They know it’s not about the American people, but it’s hard to separate that when you’re emotional.”
More than one million Canadian snowbirds spend billions of dollars each year in the U.S. “They have developed parallel lives down there,” Buttignol said. “They’re part of communities, they’re part of the fabric of life down south.”
In the wake of Trump’s actions, he said, Canadians have changed travel plans, cancelled flights, cancelled bookings and lost deposits, and, in some cases, sold their properties and headed home.
Martin Buck said the sale of the couple’s resort property in Arizona closed on Jan. 15 and they were back in Canada five days later.
They loved the lifestyle, the sun and their friends, but they could see where the winds were blowing, said Buck, who estimates a third of their neighbours in the Trilogy-owned project where they had a home were Canadian.
They aren’t the only ones selling, he said. On the drive back to Canada, the Bucks noticed a lot of empty pads at resort parks that are normally full this time of year with Canadian snowbirds.
Buck said they had tried to sell when Trump was first elected in 2016, but couldn’t land a buyer.
“My American friends said: ‘You’ve got to trust the American system, there are guardrails and everything will be OK,’ so we relaxed, but then we could see here he was rising again,” he said.
So they tried to sell the home last fall, with no luck, and were left hoping Trump would lose to Democratic candidate Kamala Harris.
“So we put it on the market again, lowered our price from what we originally started asking, and thank God it sold within about three or four weeks,” he said.
Buck said the decision was difficult, because of their friendships. But there were other factors, including the weak Canadian dollar and the fact that they had purchased a lot in Arbutus Ridge to replicate the lifestyle they enjoyed in Arizona — particularly the sense of community.
“We still have many friends down there. Many of my Republican friends, of course, have abandoned Donald Trump.”
He said they plan on staying in touch, and some of his U.S. friends have even asked about moving to Canada.
Buck, an early adopter of electric cars, hasn’t yet given up on his Tesla, despite Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s role at the White House. He is prepared to give up on the U.S. for at least for two years, as the mid-term elections “could change everything.”
“Absolutely, we are done for a while,” Buck said, noting the family is in Cancun right now instead of Maui, where they would normally go.
He said in the future, they will consider cruises in the sun, away from the U.S.
The U.S. Travel Association has noted Canada is the top source of international visitors to the U.S., with 20.4 million visits in 2024. That generated $20.5 billion in spending and supported an estimated 140,000 American jobs.
The association estimates even a 10 per cent reduction in Canadian travel could mean two million fewer visits and $2.1 billion in lost spending, which would translate to a loss of 14,000 American jobs.
Peach Akerhielm, who lives in Campbell River, said instead of heading to Arizona next year, as they had done for 15 years, she will be a “real snowbird” and stay in Canada.
In a letter sent to the Times Colonist, which she had earlier sent to the Arizona Republic website, Akerhielm wrote she and her husband will miss Scottsdale and their friends but “our own country needs our travel and consumer dollars now, so we won’t be back until things improve.”
In her letter, Akerhielm added the community will be missing out on an estimated $33,000 she spent in the area last year, and when they rent out their Arizona home another $35,000 will be sent to Canada.
“Certainly our $68,000 USD is peanuts in your big picture. However, it’s equivalent to a modest salary for an American worker, and multiplied by the number of us who are leaving, it might matter to you all,” she wrote.
Akerhielm added that unless the situation between the countries improves, they and their money will continue to stay in Canada.
Buttignol said CARP has advised its members not to panic and to stay well informed.
“You can’t make plans depending on what side of the bed the president got up on,” he said. “Seniors have seen a lot more in their lifetimes. They know to stay calm and not do anything crazy.
“One thing about being on the Earth seven, eight or nine decades, you see things and you see how they play out over the long term.”
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