This article is republished from The Conversation, an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts. Valorie A. Crook is a professor at Simon Fraser University's Department of Geography. Jeremy Snyder is a professor of health sciences at Simon Fraser University.
Every winter, of older Canadians spend the winter in the United States. But in recent weeks, we鈥檝e seen many Canadian snowbirds shifting their attention to other matters.
First, from those who said they would no longer participate in this seasonal migration because of political events in the U.S. Another related concern was . This trend has prompted some to
More recently, attention has shifted to . Snowbirds are concerned about administrative and procedural requirements that .
During the COVID-19 pandemic, some Canadian snowbirds experienced challenges crossing into the U.S. for the winter or returning to Canada. Closures of borders to non-essential travel
Drawing on research in snowbird communities, that affordability and ease of movement are two important enablers of long-stay seasonal travel.
Because of this, it鈥檚 not surprising that we鈥檙e hearing from snowbirds again in light of recent developments.
Economic and political disruptions
While COVID-era travel disruptions , the current economic and political disruptions are another story. Florida is a popular destination for Canadian snowbirds. In fact, a named eight of the 10 best American destination communities as being in Florida.
If Canadian snowbirds are talking about cancelling travel plans and selling properties, people in Florida should be paying attention.
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Instead, in , Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis downplayed what it would mean for Canadians to avoid travel to the state. Citing a , he noted that only 3.3 million of the 142.9 million visitors to Florida in 2024 were from Canada.
DeSantis went on to say 鈥�.鈥� But 91.5 per cent of Florida鈥檚 annual visitors were from the U.S. This means that the 2.3 per cent of visitors who were Canadian were actually a substantial portion of the states鈥檚 international visitors.
DeSantis鈥檚 recent comments were also that signalled substantial negative economic impacts for the state if Canadian snowbirds did not arrive for the winter.
Community members
Aside from these economic impacts, something we鈥檝e learned through our years of research with Canadians who winter in the U.S. is that many become vital members of destination communities. From participating in public health outreach programs to volunteering at local hospitals, our research has shown that many .
Any drop in the numbers of seasonal travellers going to U.S. destinations will have social costs for communities beyond the quantifiable economic losses.
Many popular U.S. destination communities for snowbirds have health systems that are designed to expand and retract with dramatically different seasonal populations. Our research has observed this most closely in Yuma, Ariz., where and staffed seasonally in the winter.
Additionally, some of the are . Any retreat from these destinations by Canadian snowbirds . This can ultimately impact the quality of care they can provide to a more limited local patient base.
Intangible impacts
While the economic impacts of the seeming loss of long-stay older Canadians in these communities are important to consider, there will be other 鈥� less measurable but no less important 鈥� impacts. Just as the long friendship between the U.S. and Canada is now being tested, .
Business owners in U.S. destinations when fewer Canadian snowbirds went south during the COVID-19 pandemic. Some Canadian business sectors and communities discovered opportunities emerging from .
As snowbirds , we must be attentive to the stories behind the numbers to understand the true impacts of their decisions. And as , Canadian snowbirds are now faced with new economic and emotional considerations.
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original .
