Weak dollar, anger with U.S. expected to give $1.5B boost to Quebec tourism industry

MONTREAL — The weak Canadian dollar and the fast-eroding relationship between the United States and Canada are expected to bring a major boost to Quebec’s economy in 2025, says a tourism group.

Alliance de l’industrie touristique du Québec says it calculated that Quebecers who cancel trips to the U.S. and instead travel in the province will spend about $1.5 billion this year. The total cost of cancelled vacations by Quebecers to the U.S. is expected to reach $3 billion in losses for the American economy, says the alliance, which is composed of regional tourism associations across the province.

“Americans last year spent $2.1 billion in Quebec throughout the whole year, so adding an extra $1.5 (billion) coming just from Quebecers staying here is huge for us,” Sébastien Benedict, a vice-president with the alliance, said in an interview Wednesday.

The projection came from a Leger survey conducted for his group indicating that 45 per cent of Quebec respondents who had plans to travel to the U.S. in 2025 had either cancelled their trips or planned to. And among those who had cancelled or said they would, half of them said they will spend their tourism dollars in Quebec.

Many Quebecers have turned sour on the United States since President Donald Trump started threatening to annex Canada and make it the 51st state. And on Tuesday, he made good on his threats to impose tariffs, slapping 25 per cent across-the-board duties on Canadian goods. On Wednesday Trump said vehicles would be exempt for one month.

Benedict said he has heard from regional tourism associations and businesses that Quebecers are concerned about travelling abroad on a weak dollar. But most of all, people are fearful of a hostile reception in the U.S. as the rift between the two countries grows, or are looking for ways to retaliate against the U.S. government, he said.

Yves Lalumière, CEO of Tourisme Montréal, said the city is planning a marketing strategy in the United States that will highlight the strength of the U.S. dollar — one American dollar is worth more than 1.44 Canadian dollars.

“We’ll put a bit more of an aggressiveness … in terms of how we promote the foreign exchange economic impact,” he said, adding that Americans travelling for leisure aren’t always aware how much stronger their currency is compared to the Canadian dollar.

Montreal is becoming an increasingly popular destination for American tourists, he said, adding that 2024 saw an 11 per cent increase in American travellers compared to the previous year.

In 2023, international tourism brought more than $4 billion to the province, Benedict said, with American tourists accounting for half of that money. Another $2.2 billion came from visitors from other provinces, but the lion’s share of tourism money — $8.4 billion — came from Quebecers travelling within the province.

Benedict said 2025 should be the busiest year for Quebec tourism since the COVID-19 pandemic, when Canadians flocked to destinations closer to home because of foreign travel bans and health measures. In the summer of 2020, places like Quebec’s Gaspé region were caught off guard by tourists who arrived without hotel or camping reservations and overran beaches, upsetting locals. But Benedict said lessons have been learned.

“We’ve learned from the pandemic from having a lot of Quebecers taking their vacation here, so our regions are ready to welcome more tourists this summer and throughout the rest of the year,” he said.

Percé, Que., Mayor Daniel Leboeuf agrees. In an interview Wednesday, he said services for tourists have become more organized since then and, more importantly, there are no longer social distancing measures to implement.

However, while Leboeuf said more tourism money is welcome, the region’s fishing industry, which exports the bulk of its crab and lobster to the United States, stands to lose greatly.

The Leger survey for the alliance was conducted Feb. 14-16 involving slightly more than 1,000 web panel respondents in Quebec. The survey did not use a probabilistic sample and therefore does not have a margin of error.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 5, 2025.

Joe Bongiorno, The Canadian Press