For more than a year, Canadian travel to the United States has been a complicated story.
There have been headlines about political tension, tariffs, border concerns and a noticeable pullback in cross-border trips. Plenty of Canadians have been choosing to stay closer to home. Others have been looking farther afield, with Europe, Mexico, the Caribbean and other international destinations feeling more appealing than another quick hop south.
But travel trends are rarely as simple as the headline version.
Look a little closer and a more interesting generational story starts to appear: younger Canadians, especially Gen Z, may not be walking away from U.S. travel in the same way older travellers are.
They are still curious. They are still planning. They are still watching prices. And in many cases, they are still keeping the United States on the list.
They are just approaching it with a very different mindset.
A Border Story With More Than One Plot
Canadian travel to the U.S. has definitely been under pressure. Recent Statistics Canada data has shown a long stretch of reduced cross-border travel, and even with signs of a spring rebound, overall trips remain well below 2024 levels.
For some Canadians, the reasons are political. For others, they are practical: exchange rates, rising travel costs, border uncertainty, airfare, gas prices or the simple appeal of exploring Canada instead.
But according to the 2026 Smart Traveller Survey, conducted by Harris Poll Canada on behalf of the Travel Health Insurance Association of Canada, Gen Z Canadians appear to be looking at U.S. travel differently than older generations.
The survey found that 45% of Gen Z Canadians said they were likely to travel to the United States within the next year, compared with just 8% of Baby Boomers. Among Canadians already planning trips, 61% of Gen Z travellers said the U.S. was on their itinerary.
That is not a small gap. It suggests that while the broader Canadian mood around U.S. travel has shifted, younger travellers are not necessarily closing the door.
Politics Matter, But So Does Rent
One of the most revealing parts of the survey is what younger travellers identified as their biggest barrier.
For many older Canadians, political tensions were a major deterrent to travelling south of the border. For Gen Z, the bigger obstacle was cost, followed by limited paid time off.
That feels very much like the reality of young adulthood right now.
Travel may be a priority, but so are rent, groceries, student loans, early-career salaries, side hustles, savings goals and the everyday math of getting through the month without pretending the credit card is a magical object.
So the question is not necessarily, “Do young Canadians still want to travel?”
They do.
The question is, “Can they make the trip work?”
For a Gen Z traveller, a U.S. getaway has to compete with everything else. A weekend in New York, a concert trip to Nashville, a California road trip, a Florida beach escape or a few days in Boston can still be exciting—but flights, hotels, insurance, meals, transportation and the exchange rate all have to make sense.
That makes younger travellers less casual about travel, not less interested.
Experiences Are Still Winning
It also makes sense when you look at how younger travellers think about trips now: experiences still matter.
For many younger travellers, a trip is rarely just time away. It is a chance to feel independent, reset mentally, see something different, reconnect with friends, discover a new neighbourhood or finally visit a place that has lived rent-free on a travel wish list for years.
The U.S. still has a lot of easy appeal for Canadians. It is close, familiar and incredibly varied. Depending on the destination, a traveller can build a trip around live music, beaches, museums, food, shopping, wellness, sports, national parks, road trips, theme parks, college towns, desert landscapes or big-city energy.
A long weekend in Charleston is not the same as a girls’ trip to Miami. A Santa Fe arts escape has little in common with a Seattle coffee-and-bookstore weekend. Nashville, New Orleans, Palm Springs, Boston, Austin, Chicago, Savannah and the Pacific Northwest all offer entirely different reasons to cross the border.
That variety matters.
For a generation that values experiences but has to be selective about spending, the U.S. can still make sense—especially when the trip feels specific, personal and worth the effort.
The New Value Traveller
Gen Z travellers are often painted as spontaneous, but they can also be extremely strategic.
They track flight deals. They compare neighbourhoods. They look for walkable hotels. They use social media as a research tool, but not blindly. They know when a destination is overhyped, overpriced or not built for the kind of trip they actually want.
They may splurge on one memorable dinner, concert, spa treatment, boutique hotel night or once-in-a-trip experience, then balance it with casual food stops, free galleries, public parks, vintage shopping, local cafés and transit-friendly exploring.
It’s not really budget travel in the old sense.
It is value-conscious travel.
The best trip is not always the cheapest one. It is the one that feels worth it.
That distinction is important for destinations hoping to reach younger Canadians. A polished campaign built entirely around luxury may miss the mark. So might a generic “something for everyone” message.
Younger travellers need a reason to care — and a reason to believe the trip will be worth the spend. They want the neighbourhood with personality, the food scene that feels local, the event that makes the timing feel right, the hotel that offers style without absurd pricing, the itinerary that feels doable in three or four days.
They are not necessarily looking for the most expensive version of a destination.
They are looking for the version that feels like theirs.
Why U.S. Destinations Should Pay Attention
The broader pullback in Canadian travel is real, and U.S. destinations should not assume Canadian visitors will return automatically.
But the Gen Z numbers suggest there is still opportunity—especially for destinations willing to speak to younger travellers in a way that feels current, useful and grounded in real life.
That means highlighting experiences that are easy to imagine and easier to plan:
walkable weekends, music and festival trips, food-focused getaways, affordable hotel packages, outdoor adventures, wellness escapes, girls’ weekends, road trips, short itineraries, public transit options, local shopping districts and experiences that do not require a massive budget to enjoy.
It also means understanding that younger Canadians may be open to the U.S., but not careless about it.
They want clarity. They want value. They want to know what makes a place worth choosing now.
And because the survey came from a travel health insurance association, it is also a good reminder that younger travellers should think beyond the fun parts of planning. The U.S. can be an expensive place to have a medical emergency, so understanding travel insurance coverage before leaving Canada is still part of travelling smart.
Not glamorous. Very necessary.
The Door Is Still Open
Canadian travel to the United States is still in a period of adjustment. The rebound is not complete, and many Canadians remain hesitant.
But Gen Z Canadians appear to be keeping the door open.
They are not ignoring the wider conversation. They are not pretending cost does not matter. They are not travelling the same way older generations did.
They are weighing the options in their own way.
For some, that may mean choosing Canada this year. For others, it may mean Europe, Mexico or somewhere entirely new. But for many younger travellers, the U.S. remains close enough, varied enough and interesting enough to stay in the mix.
The opportunity now is not simply to convince Gen Z Canadians to travel.
They already want to.
The opportunity is to show them the U.S. experiences that feel worth their time, their budget and their curiosity.
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