Worried that Donald Trump’s policies are scaring away Canadians, a key segment of their tourist industry, a California resort city has put up “Palm Springs Loves Canada” signs across its downtown.
“It was a gesture to let our Canadian visitors know that what happens in Washington DC, is not the way that Palm Springs is looking at Canada,” Ron deHarte, the city’s mayor, said of the signs, which were installed on Friday.
An estimated 300,000 Canadians each year visit the Palm Springs region, DeHarte said, some of them staying for months at a time as they trade Canada’s harsh winters for southern California’s reliable warmth. But the mayor said he has been hearing from some Canadians that the US government’s tariffs, and its rhetoric about Canada, is unacceptable to them, and that they’re responding by cancelling their annual trips, pledging they’re “not spending a dime in Palm Springs”.
DeHarte said he understands that perspective, but he and other local officials are sending a “positive message” and hoping Canadians will reconsider.
Canadian visitors spend an estimated $300m annually in the region, and “represent about 2,000 jobs in the hospitality industry”, deHarte said. “So when we have a group of visitors who are leaving early, or deciding not to come next year, that’s significant. That’s our restaurants, our stores, theater, arts, it’s all of our businesses. The maids, the janitors, everyone is touched by the economic impact, or the loss of those dollars coming in.”
If Canadians choose not to come back to Palm Springs next winter, that will have more than just a financial impact, the mayor added.
“They volunteer. You see Canadians at our functions and events. They’re getting involved any way they possibly can,” deHarte said. “It’s not just a visitor coming to sit and hang out by the pool. These are really people who are part of our community.”
The new pro-Canada signs were first reported by The Palm Springs Post, which noted that a local carwash, Desert Hand Wash, had installed a large “We Love Canada” sign even before city officials had taken action.
“The Canadian business is 30% of my business in the winter. It’s essential we do something significant,” Bob Smiland, the car wash’s owner, told the Palm Springs Post.
Palm Springs, a desert oasis two hours outside of Los Angeles, is known for its vacation homes and large gay community. In 2018, it elected the US’s first all-LGBTQ+ city council, a milestone that came as an afterthought in a city where inclusion had long been taken for granted. A recent Palm Springs protest against Trump and Elon Musk drew thousands of people, a local newspaper reported, and demonstrators have also been picketing outside a local Tesla showroom for weeks.
But what some locals describe as the Palm Springs “liberal bubble” has not been enough to insulate it from the effects of Trump’s trade, immigration and anti-LGBTQ+ polices – as well as Trump’s repeated claims that Canada should become the “51st state” in the US, while mockingly referring to then prime minister Justin Trudeau as a “governor”.
In early April, Canadian prime minister Mark Carney announced a 25% tax on US cars, calling Trump’s tariffs on Canadian steel and automobiles “unjustified”.
As Canadian sports fans have started booing the US national anthem and some Canadians have adopted the phrase “elbows up” to show their combative attitude towards US aggression, there are some signs that the political conflict may also be influencing Canadian tourism to the US.
Two Canadian budget airlines, WestJet and Flair, have reduced their flights between western Canada and Palm Springs in recent weeks, citing reduced demand.
“As a result of the current political environment, we have seen a downward shift in demand for trans-border bookings between Canada and the US,” Josh Yates, a spokesperson for WestJet, told the Guardian. “Notably, we are seeing increased demand for sun destinations across Mexico and the Caribbean, and to Europe.”
Multiple local real estate agents in the Palm Springs area have spoken out about Canadians contacting them about selling their California vacation homes in response to Trump’s agenda.
“Within the first two weeks of tariffs talks, I had sellers calling and saying, ‘We’re out of here, Trump has irrevocably damaged the relationship between Canada and the United States,’” Palm Springs realtor Sherri Dettman told Fast Company.
Another Palm Springs realtor, Paul Kaplan, published a blog post outlining the financial factors Canadians should consider when selling a US vacation home.
A Canadian-American who lives in Palm Springs told the Los Angeles Times that a group of his gay Canadian friends had cancelled their spring trip to Coachella to see Lady Gaga because of Trump’s policies.
Local officials are paying close attention to these indicators, though they said the full impact of Canadians cancelling trips to Palm Springs is not likely to be felt until the coming winter season.
“The economic impact, it’s going to make a difference this year, for sure, but where we’re really going to feel it is if this turmoil continues into next year,” said deHarte.
A 2021 study found that Canadians owned 7% of vacation properties in the area, a higher proportion than residents of any other foreign country. Compared with the average Palm Springs visitor, Canadians tended to stay longer and spend more, a 2017 economic analysis found.
“We do have to hope that this turmoil in DC is going to be short-lived, and that everybody can get back to their daily lives, and not be in fear of how our pocketbooks and livelihoods are going to be affected,” the mayor said.
