Snowbird tourism in peril due to U.S. rules, lawyer warns

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This article was published 04/04/2025 (489 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Immigration experts say incoming regulations that require Canadians to register with the U.S. government during extended stays down south could paralyze snowbird tourism, just as some Manitobans say they’ve already changed their travel plans.

The new rules were outlined by President Donald Trump in an executive order in January and are set to take effect April 11. They break from the tradition in which Canadians are exempt from registration requirements when entering the U.S. at a land crossing, said Winnipeg immigration lawyer Kenneth Zaifman.

“For the first time now, the U.S. is requiring Canadians who want to travel to the U.S. for more than 30 days to register. This registration regime is quite complicated and the consequences can be quite severe,” Zaifman said Friday.

“This rule was brought in quite hastily, and it’s not particularly very clear how you can comply.”

Zaifman’s office has been fielding calls from people concerned about the executive order, which the U.S. administration named “Protecting the American People Against Invasion.”

Typically, Canadians who enter the U.S. by plane are issued an arrival and departure record that’s automatically collected by customs officers and is stored electronically; foreigners who enter by land are not provided such records.

Foreigners must enter their information online through a U.S. Immigration website to determine their registration status. Those travelling by land who stay longer than a month may be required to submit numerous personal details, including their U.S. address, email and marital status.

People who fail to register, or who are caught without proof of registration, could face fines of up to US$5,000 and be detained for up to six months, Zaifman said.

“Is that something that is going to happen to (Canadian snowbirds)? No one knows,” Zaifman said.

“I think people are just not going to want to run the risk, whatever the risk may be… They’ll be looking for other places to go, and that’s what they’ve been telling me.”

The U.S.-based American Immigration Council is suing the Trump administration in an attempt to cancel the requirement. The lawsuit, filed on behalf of several non-profit organizations, argues officials failed to seek input. It asks the judiciary to impose a preliminary injunction blocking the registration requirements before they take effect.

“The rule is not procedural since it burdens and otherwise affects millions of people and is otherwise unlawful since it is confusingly written and chaos-inducing,” the council said.

Zaifman said he and his colleagues are waiting to see whether the courts will halt the executive order, or whether the administration will clarify its application.

Evan Rachkovsky, director of research and communications for the Canadian Snowbird Association, said he is watching the U.S. closely.

“This policy is another headwind in an already difficult environment for Canadian snowbirds,” Rachkovsky said in an email statement.

“While the snowbird travel market tends to be more resilient than the leisure travel market, it remains to be seen how much of an impact the registration requirement will have… We will have a clearer picture during the start of the next snowbird season.”

On Friday, the Canada Border Services Agency and the Snowbird Association issued a joint statement urging Canadians “to plan ahead for a smooth return home.”

The statement referred to the 25 per cent counter-tariffs Canada has imposed on certain U.S. products, amid the trade war launched by Trump.

Border agents are collecting the tariffs on behalf of the Canadian government as a surtax, meaning snowbirds may have to pay additional charges for some goods before they re-enter the country.

The federal finance department has compiled a list of affected products online.

“These registration requirements that are being proposed, to me, are absurd,” said Winnipeg snowbird Tom Pearson, who recently returned to Canada from the U.S. “We are not going back. Period.”

In each of the past 14 years, Pearson and his wife spent five months wintering in California, staying in a home they owned in Indian Wells, near Palm Springs. They sold that property in December in response to rising political tensions, he said.

“We’ve got friends who didn’t think what has happened, could happen. They are having difficulty selling their properties right now because everybody else is doing it, too,” Pearson said, referring to Trump’s tariffs and repeated threats of annexation.

Pearson, a retired engineer, estimated he spent up to $4,000 per month in the U.S., but is “not prepared to spend another dime.”

He and his wife will spend next winter travelling domestically; they plan to visit both the east and west coasts. Future seasonal trips to Europe and Mexico are on the table, provided the latter is safe, he said.

Tim Duprey, a retired Manitoba health care executive who has wintered in Mexico with his wife for nearly two decades, urged other snowbirds to join them further south.

“We love it. We really enjoy (Mexico), we enjoy the people,” he said. “We hear all about the safety issues and people’s concerns… but we haven’t experienced any kind of violence.”

Durpey recommended snowbirds explore communities in Mexico’s interior, where there are many Canadian ex-pats and English is widely spoken, he said.

tyler.searle@freepress.mb.ca