U.S. mayor makes appeal to Canadian travellers: 'We like you guys, we miss you'

A U.S. mayor has taken to social media to send a message to Canadians boycotting travel to the United States: Minneapolis misses them.

Jacob Frey, the mayor of Minneapolis, Minnesota, said in the video he shared on Instagram on Wednesday: “Hey Canadians. We like you guys, we miss you. We don’t think of you as the 51st state. We know that you’re a sovereign nation.”

His message comes amid escalating trade tensions between Canada and the U.S., which most recently saw President Donald Trump accuse Canada of “taking advantage” of his country and call Canada’s leaders “very bad.”

“I understand you’ve been dealing with some kind of unreasonable stuff, and to put it lightly, we’ve dealt with some really unreasonable stuff in Minneapolis,” Frey said. “We can talk about that when you come to visit us.”

The video comes months after two people were fatally shot in Minneapolis by federal agents. Renee Good was killed by a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent on Jan. 7, and Alex Pretti was shot just weeks later, on Jan. 24, by a U.S. Border Patrol officer.

Following Good’s death, Frey demanded that ICE “get the f— out of Minneapolis” during a news conference. “Long-term Minneapolis residents that have contributed so greatly to our city, to our culture, to our economy, are being terrorized — and now somebody is dead,” he said.

In the recent Instagram video, Frey attempted to entice Canadians to travel to the Minnesota city by saying, “It’s beautiful fall right now,” and Minneapolis has “some of the best restaurants in the world.”

“But most importantly, we can have each other’s company,” he added. “So we miss you guys, and whether it’s a short flight away, or for some of you even a drive, I can’t wait to see you when you visit our city. Love, Minneapolis.”

Amid Canadians’ souring attitudes towards the U.S., Mayor Frey isn’t the only politician to personally urge his northern neighbours to visit. In April 2025, California Governor Gavin Newsom shared a video promoting tourism to the Golden State, in which he said: “Sure, you-know-who is trying to stir things up back in D.C., but don’t let that ruin your beach plans.”

The state also launched a US$5.2 million tourism campaign aimed at welcoming Canadians to California, and the city of Palm Springs displayed 40 red banners featuring the Canadian flag shaped as a heart in an effort to show the resort destination’s solidarity with Canada.

Meanwhile, both Visit Florida and Travel Nevada tourism boards held promotional events in Canada earlier in the year to promote travel to their states and showcase commitment to the Canadian market.

These efforts come after a sharp decline in the number of Canadians travelling south of the border. Recently released figures from Statistics Canada revealed Canadians spent $3.3 billion less on travel to the United States in 2025 compared to 2024, which amounted to a total of 7.4 million fewer trips south. When it came to leisure travel to the U.S., visits from Canadians dropped by 3.2 million, a reduction of 21.5 per cent.

StatCan notes that the dramatic decline in cross-border travel occurred “following the change in the U.S. administration in early 2025 and the implementation of America First policies,” adding that “Canadians’ travel plans shifted abruptly” during this time.

However, figures from July suggest that might be about to change. StatCan data showed that return trips to the U.S. by air edged up 0.6 per cent year over year that month, marking the first increase since August 2023.

Combined with 2.2 million trips by automobile (a year-over-year increase of 12.6 per cent) and 26,400 by cruise ship, total return trips to the U.S. by Canadian residents reached 2.8 million in July, up 10.1 per cent year-over-year. This marked a fourth consecutive month of year-over-year growth, following 15 consecutive months of decline.

But while the July figures suggest the U.S. travel boycott may be over, the data covers a period before the latest escalations in the Canada-U.S. trade war.

After talks between the two countries broke down in August, Trump imposed 50 per cent tariffs on $28 billion worth of Canadian goods. Canada retaliated with counter-tariffs on U.S. imports taking effect in September.

Trump also signed an executive order renaming Lake Ontario to “Lake America” and, on Sept. 29, a new U.S. import ban on some Canadian goods came into effect.

With trade tensions showing no sign of easing, it remains to be seen whether Mayor Frey’s plea will be answered.

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