More Canadian schools refuse to send kids on US trips, extends travel ban

Manitoba schools keep US travel bans

Several Manitoba school divisions reviewed their rules on student trips to the United States in early 2026 and decided nothing has changed enough to lift the bans.

The restrictions first went into effect in early 2025, driven by safety concerns, unpredictable border conditions, and tensions between the two countries.

The bans affect field trips, sports competitions, cultural exchanges, and even robotics events that used to take students across the border regularly.

At least six divisions blocked US trips

The Red River Valley School Division announced on Jan. 29 that it would stop all school-approved international travel, mostly because of concerns about the U.S.

The Seine River School Division, southeast of Winnipeg, kept its ban after a review. Board chair Christine Roskos said nobody pushed back on the decision.

The Winnipeg School Division and Pembina Trails School Division also said they are not approving U.S. trips. Louis Riel’s board voted in October to suspend U.S. travel, and River East Transcona cancelled its trips too.

More districts extend the pause

St. James Assiniboia’s trustees voted in January 2026 to extend their pause on U.S. travel through the rest of the school year, with the option to renew the ban again in August.

The Brandon School Division in western Manitoba restricted student and staff travel to the U.S. in 2025 and has not changed that policy.

Instead of cancelling trips altogether, schools are encouraging students and staff to travel within Canada as an alternative.

Officials say the risks are too high

Red River Valley Superintendent Daniel Preteau said the decision came down to tensions between the two countries. The district has students and staff from different ethnic groups, religious backgrounds, and beliefs.

Preteau said a risk assessment showed that stepping in to bring students home from another country would be much harder than handling problems within Canada.

The Seine River board made its original decision in 2025, partly to keep tourism dollars inside Canada during the trade dispute.

Border communities see it differently

Not everyone agrees a full ban makes sense.

Border Land Teachers’ Association president Rob Stradeski said he would leave it to individual teachers to decide whether U.S. travel is safe.

Teachers in border communities have deep personal ties across the line, with some having family on both sides.

“From where I live, I could walk into the United States,” Stradeski said. CBC News reached out to the Border Land superintendent and board chair but did not hear back.

Other provinces followed the same path

The trend goes well beyond Manitoba.

In British Columbia, the Surrey school district, the province’s largest, paused all U.S. field trips in spring 2025 to prevent bad border experiences.

Surrey normally sends students on 40 to 60 international trips a year, with about half going to the U.S. In New Brunswick, the largest French school district cancelled a high school band trip to New York City.

Girl Guides of Canada suspended all U.S. trips starting Sept. 1, 2025, citing safety and inclusivity for members who may hold citizenship from other countries.

Canadian travel to the US dropped 28%

The school bans reflect a much bigger shift.

Statistics Canada data show Canadians made about 22.9 million trips to the U.S. in 2025, down 28% from about 31.9 million the year before.

Car travel alone fell about 31%, a difference of roughly 7.6 million vehicles. A Statistics Canada analyst said the length and depth of the decline was rare in the country’s history.

The drop continued into January 2026, with Canadian return trips from the U.S. falling about 24% year over year, marking 12 straight months of declines.

US border states lost billions in spending

A December 2025 report by the Democratic minority of the U.S. Congress Joint Economic Committee found the tourism decline hurt businesses in all 11 U.S. border states.

In 2024, Canadian tourism brought about $20.5 billion into the U.S. economy and supported roughly 140,000 American jobs.

The U.S. Travel Association forecast about a $5.7 billion drop in international tourism spending for 2025, largely driven by fewer Canadian visitors. Canadians made up about 28% of the country’s roughly 72 million international visitors in 2024.

Some states saw especially steep drops

In Montana, Canadians made up nearly 80% of international visitors in 2024 and brought about $170 million to the state’s economy.

New Hampshire reported a 30% decrease in Canadian visitors, and campground reservations fell 71% in the first five months of 2025. Border crossings there dropped about 19% in the first 10 months of 2025.

Maine saw Canadian vehicle crossings fall about 25% in the same period. Credit card spending by Canadian visitors in Kalispell, Mont., dropped about 39% year over year.

Trade tensions and border incidents fueled anxiety

Several factors drove the decline. The U.S. travel advisory noted that denied entry could lead to detention while awaiting deportation.

Trade tensions and tariffs on Canadian goods played a big role, along with repeated suggestions that Canada should become the 51st state.

Reports of Canadians being questioned, turned away, or detained at the border made people nervous about crossing.

Global Affairs Canada updated its U.S. travel advisory, warning travelers to expect scrutiny at ports of entry, including checks of electronic devices.

Canadian students chose to travel at home

While U.S. trips dropped, Canadian domestic travel surged.

In the second quarter of 2025, Canadians took about 90.6 million domestic trips, a record high for that period. They spent about $20.3 billion on trips within Canada in the second quarter, up roughly 14% from 2024.

Travel to overseas destinations also grew, with return trips from non-U.S. international locations rising about 14% year over year in November 2025.

Airlines cut hundreds of thousands of seats from Canada-U.S. routes to match the reduced demand.

No Manitoba schools plan to reverse course

As of February 2026, none of the Manitoba school divisions that banned U.S. travel have signaled plans to change direction. St. James Assiniboia will have the option to renew its ban in August 2026.

The U.S. Travel Association predicted international travel may pick up somewhat in 2026, driven by the FIFA World Cup and America’s 250th anniversary celebrations.

Still, some U.S. border towns are not waiting. Kalispell, Mont., launched a Canadian Welcome Pass offering discounts to try to win visitors back.

This article was created with AI assistance and human editing.

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