Cross border traffic plunges amid trade war, except at Windsor tunnel

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As cross-border traffic plummets across Ontario during the continental trade war, a wave of Canadian patriotism has caused barely a blip at the Windsor-Detroit Tunnel.

Much of the cross-border travel in other areas is “discretionary” or tourism-based, but tunnel CEO Tal Czudner said that in Windsor, it’s a necessity.

“We have a lot of commuters,” he told the Star. “That’s a big part of our traffic. If you’re a nurse at Henry Ford or working IT at Stellantis, you’re crossing the border.”

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Czudner said the number of Canadians crossing to Michigan has dipped slightly, about eight per cent, while there has been an uptick in American visitors entering Windsor.

The North American tourism industry is among the many sectors thrown into turmoil after U.S. President Donald Trump imposed 25 per cent tariffs on all imports from Canada and Mexico.

Trump then created more uncertainty by pausing the tariffs against automakers and some other imports that comply with the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA), which he signed during his first presidency.

Retaliatory measures from Canadian and provincial governments, including equal-measure tariffs, remain in effect. Individual Canadians are also protesting by boycotting American products and U.S. travel, with potentially wide-reaching consequences.

Like other sectors, Canada is America’s No. 1 tourism driver, making up about 31 per cent of all visitors.

Gordon Orr, CEO of Tourism Windsor Essex Pelee Island, said Canadians spend $21 billion a year in the U.S.

“Let’s say 10 per cent of Canadians decide to stay home and not go there,” he said. “That’s like a $2.1 billion hit, which translates into 140,000 jobs at risk in the U.S.”

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The Ambassador Bridge company did not respond to requests for information about recent traffic numbers.

Visit Detroit, a Motor City economic development organization, also did not respond to the Star’s questions.

But as Trump’s rhetoric escalated before the tariffs even took effect, Canadians were showing a declining desire for cross border trips.

Orr said surveys by the Travel and Tourism Research Association (TTRA) showed the number of Canadians who said they’re unlikely to travel to the U.S. spiked from 33 per cent in December to 52.5 per cent in February.

Attitudes at Toronto’s Outdoor Adventure Show last month seemed to confirm that sentiment.

“We had a number of people come up to our booth — primarily people that live in Toronto or the GTA — saying we weren’t considering Windsor-Essex, but now that we’re not going to the U.S. tell us about what you have to offer,” said Orr. “It was also reported to me that there were U.S. destinations there, and their booths had less traffic from attendees.”

Czudner said border crossings in other Ontario cities have seen declines of 16 to 20 per cent.

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Over the last month, he said Windsor-Detroit tunnel traffic dropped by about eight per cent, or 500 vehicles daily going in both directions.

“We’ve had a small decrease in traffic,” said Czudner. “I can tell you that a number of the other border crossings are down significantly more than that.”

He said the Windsor-Detroit tunnel averages about 11,000 tolls a day, including vehicles travelling in each direction.

Czudner said there has also been a small increase in Americans coming to Canada through the tunnel in the last month, though he couldn’t confirm the numbers.

“We’re seeing a decent amount of Americans come to Canada,” he said.

He suspects there are three reasons Americans are continuing to visit Windsor-Essex, including the strong U.S. dollar and the work that local agencies have done promoting the region.

“The third thing is a tad political,” he said. “I think there’s a lot of Americans that are recognizing that we’re the best friends on the planet that the United States have, and they want to go over and visit.”

Orr said it’s now more important than ever to remind those Americans that we still want to be friends.

“I do want to underscore the fact that Americans, much like any visitor, need to feel welcome and safe,” he said. “I think that booing at national anthems and all of that is not helpful. These are our American friends, our greatest neighbour, our greatest ally. We want to see our friends from Detroit and Michigan and Ohio come back and continue to visit us.”

twilhelm@postmedia.com

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