By Canadian Press

Weak dollar, anger toward U.S. expected to give big boost to Quebec tourism industry

Mar 5, 2025 | 12:19 PM

MONTREAL — The weak Canadian dollar and the trade war with the United States is expected to boost Quebec’s tourism economy this year.

A major tourism association says it calculated that Quebecers who choose to vacation in the province instead of the United States will spend $1.5 billion in 2025.

Sébastien Benedict, with Alliance de l’industrie touristique du Québec, says that figure came from a Leger survey conducted for his group that showed 45 per cent of Quebec respondents said they had cancelled or will cancel travel plans to the U.S. this year.

And among those who had cancelled or said they would, half of them planned to 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 especially after he imposed 25 per cent tariffs on Canadian goods this week.

Yves Lalumière, CEO of Tourisme Montréal, says 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.

The Leger survey 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