President Donald Trump signed an executive order renaming Lake Ontario as 'Lake America' on Tuesday, a move that intensifies an ongoing trade dispute between the United States and Canada. This action by the U.S. president is seen as the latest in a series of retaliatory measures amid an all-out trade war between the two nations.
The renaming order comes as Canadian officials and citizens have expressed frustration and called for economic action against the U.S. Earlier in the week, Canadian Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne suggested that Canadians could leverage their purchasing power to support domestic businesses. "The biggest power we have, each and every one of us, is our purchasing power. We can choose when we go to the grocery store or to the hardware store to buy Canadian," Champagne told reporters.
Despite calls for boycotts and rising trade tensions, recent data indicates mixed trends in cross-border travel. Prior to a tourism appeal made by British Columbia Premier David Eby, Canadian travel to the U.S. had experienced a rebound. Statistics Canada reported a 9.9% increase in Canadian visitors to the U.S. in May compared to the previous year. In June, Canadian-resident return trips from the United States rose by 5.0% year over year, and American visits to Canada also saw an increase of 6.1%.
However, the first quarter of 2026 presented a different picture. Canadian residents made 5.5 million trips that included an outbound visit to the United States, marking a 10.6% year-over-year decline. Spending by Canadians during these U.S. visits also decreased by 13.6% during the same period, suggesting that economic impacts from the trade dispute may be influencing travel decisions.