Voyageur 67
Canadians Are Going Everywhere but the U.S, and Ottawa Is Cutting 12,000 Federal Jobs.
News for residents of the “11th province”: Canadians abroad.
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Canadians Are Going Everywhere but the U.S.
For the first time since 1972, more Canadians are traveling overseas than driving across the American border.
Statistics Canada's January numbers show that 1.5 million Canadians came back from overseas trips that month - up 10.6% from a year earlier. In the same period, 1.3 million crossed back from the U.S. by car, down 26.3%. Total U.S. returns fell 22%. That means there have now been 13 straight months of year-on-year drops.
The boycott started in early 2025 after Trump's tariffs and sovereignty rhetoric, and it hasn't let up. In Las Vegas, WestJet and Air Canada passenger arrivals dropped more than 25% last year. Some casinos there now accept Canadian dollars at par - something unthinkable two years ago.
Canadian travelers spent US$20.5 billion in the States in 2024 and their efforts supported about 140,000 American jobs, but that spending is now getting diverted to Europe, Asia, and the Caribbean instead. Two U.S. senators have introduced a bill to study the tourism damage during the CUSMA review.
Rising fuel costs from the Iran conflict (Voyageur 57) might slow the overseas boom eventually. Thirteen months in, they haven't yet.
Read more: The Globe and Mail / Travel and Tour World
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Ottawa Is Cutting 12,000 Federal Jobs
The Carney government plans to cut 12,000 full-time positions from federal departments and agencies over the next three years.
The biggest hit falls on Public Services and Procurement Canada, which loses 1,793 jobs. Statistics Canada will shed 900. Health Canada loses 942. The Canadian Space Agency is scrapping its lunar rover mission entirely. The CRA is winding down units that handled the Digital Services Tax and consumer carbon pricing.
Treasury Board says departments will manage the cuts "through attrition and voluntary departures as much as possible." About 68,000 public servants have already been sent early retirement eligibility letters with immediate pension access.
The union isn't having it. PSAC president Sharon DeSousa called it "an attack on the public service itself" that will "weaken the very programs people in Canada rely on."
PSPC handles passports and government procurement. The CRA processes tax filings from abroad. If you deal with Ottawa from outside Canada, there will be fewer people on the other end. Last we looked, Public sector employment (all levels of government + Crown corps + schools/universities/hospitals) numbered 4.597 million people, which is a staggering 21.8% of everyone who is employed.
Read more: The Globe and Mail / Toronto Star