Canada’s snowbirds aren’t happy about Trump. And Palm Springs is feeling the cold

It’s the peak of what’s called high season in Palm Springs, that busy time of year when the bright winter sunshine attracts Canadian snowbirds who flock to desert condos, golf courses and poolside martinis.

Many years.

Palm Springs has felt cold this winter for Canadian tourists, who are increasingly boycotting the United States because of their disdain for President Trump and his violence against their country.

“Our friends at home said, ‘No, don’t go!’ ” said Lois Chapman, a longtime annual visitor from Ontario who arrived in Palm Springs this month for a short stay with her husband after planning to cancel their trip altogether.

Chapman said his flight from Toronto in early February was empty and there was a noticeable drop in Canadian visitors to the desert city.

“Canada, I think it’s just hurting. It’s the climate these days,” said Chapman, a septuagenarian who volunteers at Modernism Week, a Palm Springs festival that celebrates mid-century architecture and interior design.

Canadians — who pump millions of dollars into the economy of Palm Springs and other Coachella Valley cities — often book long-term stays up to a year in advance, which provides a degree of stability for hoteliers and Airbnb owners, said Kenny Cassady, director of business development for Acme House Co., which manages vacation rentals in the region.

This winter, tourist-focused businesses must adapt to more uncertainty, he said.

As more Canadians stay at home, those reliable accommodations have been replaced by short, last-minute reservations, especially for domestic travelers, said Cassady, who is also a board member of Visit Greater Palm Springs, a Coachella Valley tourism marketing agency.

“We’re all in that last-minute stage of, ‘Are these rooms going to be booked or not?’ ” he said. “So far, we’ve been crossing the line saying, ‘Okay, that wasn’t bad.’ But there is definitely a lot of pressure.”

Cassady, a licensed real estate agent, has three jobs in 2025. They were all Canadians selling their Palm Springs condos.

“No one is happy or excited about what we are going through right now,” he added. “We’re doing everything we can to say, ‘We’re here, we love Canadians, and please come back and see us.’ ”

Nationwide, the number of Canadian visitors is down a little more than 18% in 2025 compared to last year, according to Visit California, a non-profit organization focused on tourism in the state.

By 2024, about 1.7 million Canadians will visit California, spending an estimated $3.7 billion, according to Visit California.

Last year, the number of Canadian tourists dropped to 1.4 million, according to the non-profit organization.

The decline occurred despite the marketing campaign carried out by Gov. Gavin Newsom and Visit California aimed at Canadians, where the governor emphasized that the Golden State is more than 2,000 miles away from the White House.

“Sure, You-Know-Who is trying to stir things up in DC, but don’t let that ruin your beach plans,” Newsom said. (You-Know-Who, of course, being Trump.)

Palm Springs Councilman Ron DeHarte, pictured in 2025, was mayor when the city hung city banners proclaiming, “Palm Springs [Heart] Canada.” Snowbirds are important to the local economy.

(Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times)

Trump has increased normal relations between the US and its northern neighbor. He mocked Canada for calling it America’s “51st state”, repeatedly referred to Prime Minister Mark Carney as “Governor Carney” and threatened to take over the country, which has a population of 40 million and is roughly the size of California.

Trump asked for emergency powers last year to justify tough new tariffs on Canadian products, arguing that the smuggling of illegal drugs – namely, fentanyl – across the northern border is a serious threat to American security.

Last week, the US House voted to repeal Trump’s tariffs on Canada, with the support of six Republicans – including Rep. Kevin Kiley (R-Rocklin). It was a rare rebuke by the president from the GOP-led chamber, though it was largely symbolic as Trump is likely to veto the measure if it reaches his desk.

“Any Republican, in the House or Senate, who votes against TARIFFS will face consequences come election time, and that includes the Primaries!” Trump posted on social media the date of the vote.

Trump also tweeted that he plans to block the opening of a new bridge connecting Detroit and Windsor, Ontario, because he believes that Canada has been exploiting the United States.

In Canada, elected officials and business owners urged citizens to “buy Canada.” And famous northerners have taken their tourism dollars elsewhere.

Palm trees, warm weather and the San Jacinto Mountains make Palm Springs a popular draw for Canadian snowbird visitors.

“I don’t see this going away anytime soon,” said McKenzie McMillan, a travel consultant for Vancouver-based Travel Group, noting that demand for leisure travel to the US is “very low.”

Not only are Canadians angry about the president’s tariffs and comments about their country, he said, but they are also worried about their safety as international visitors and increased border scrutiny because of Trump’s aggressive immigration crackdown.

“I’ve seen many times in my life when Canadians protest or talk to their wallets, and I don’t think I’ve ever seen a problem where Canadians have such a decision,” he added. “People have completely changed their shopping habits.”

McMillan said he has seen a “slight softening” of attitudes toward green California in recent weeks due to “effective marketing” by Newsom and the state’s tourism board, as well as in Hawaii, which is considered somewhat disconnected from US politics.

The few trips McMillan has booked to the States are usually last-minute with cheap airfare “because nobody’s on the plane.”

Many of his clients are choosing to go to the Caribbean and Mexico, “which is illegal for us this year,” with resorts full of Canadians, he said.

McMillan said he enjoys Palm Springs, Los Angeles and San Diego but has not been to America since two days after Trump won the 2024 election.

“I love the people and the places I go, but it doesn’t feel like the right time right now,” he said.

In an email to The Times, Jake Ingrassia, a spokesman for Palm Springs International Airport, said demand in Canada is softer than its pre-pandemic peak but “has remained flat over the past few years.”

Airline schedules for this spring, he said, show “modest frequency adjustments, not major setbacks,” with Canadian service, on average, “down to less than one flight a day in March, April, and May” — some of the busiest months.

The airport, he added, saw a record 3.3 million passengers by 2025 – growth driven mainly by domestic traffic.

However, the so-called snowbirds are important to the economy of this region. A 2021 study conducted by Visit Greater Palm Springs found that 7% of Canadians have second homes in the Coachella Valley, far more than residents of any other country outside the U.S. Another study, in 2017, found that nearly 303,600 Canadians visited the Coachella Valley that year, spending more than $236 million.

Midcentury Modern architecture in Palm Springs is a big draw during Modernism Week.

Lisa Vossler Smith, chief executive of Modernism Week – a 10-day festival that began last week and is expected to draw more than 100,000 people – said organizers are concerned about declining tourism, particularly in Canada.

But so far, domestic ticket sales — especially from colder cities like Chicago, New York and Minneapolis — have experienced a decline, he said.

Vossler Smith said that during the first ceremony for the nearly 500 volunteers who helped with Modernism Week, he asked for a show of hands from “our Canadian friends.”

“I swear, it was about a third of the room where their hand went up,” he said. “The whole room burst into applause because we are so happy that they are back.”

In subsequent interviews, he said, several told him that the decision to come was difficult but that they saw themselves as temporary residents of Palm Springs and wanted to give back.

Chapman said his eyes filled with air when he saw the hands of the Canadian volunteers go up.

“I was surprised and very happy,” said Chapman, who lives in the town of Niagra-on-the-Lake near the famous falls. “It brought tears to everyone’s eyes. We would like things to be better.”

For the past 15 years, she and her husband have visited Palm Springs for two to three months, booking their stays up to a year in advance. They had planned to cancel this year’s trip because of the tension between the two countries.

But then came a message from the editor of The Modern Church, hoping Chapman would return for his 10th year of volunteering. He assured her that Palm Springs was “in a blue bubble.”

Chapman said her husband would agree to come only if it shortened their trip. In October – after the usual months – they reserved a small studio for a 29-day tour that will extend to the beginning of March.

In January, when they were usually in balmy Palm Springs, the weather at home was terrible, she said.

He said: “It snowed and we were trapped in the house for three days.

Through the Modern Week events, Chapman said, he is telling more people than ever that he is Canadian.

“They all said, ‘Oh, thank you for coming,'” she said. “People are kind to us and welcome us and thank us for coming – and apologize.”