SAULT STE. MARIE - As traffic plummets at the Sault Ste. Marie border crossing, travel insurance and trip bookings to the U.S. are also on the decline, according to a CAA official.
Beyond providing roadside assistance for members, CAA also offers travel bookings and insurance for travellers – many of whom are now opting to avoid the U.S.
Dating back to January 2024, the top five destinations booked through CAA from Sault Ste. Marie include Canada, U.S., Jamaica, Mexico, and Cuba.
Although the U.S. still holds the second top spot, recent data shows a sharp downward trend in trips stateside – particularly since President Donald Trump took office.
“In (the first quarter of) 2025, we saw a 20 per cent decline in bookings for trips to the U.S.,” said Nadia Matos, external communications manager with CAA, in a statement to SooToday.
“Some customers are cancelling their trips, but others are choosing to re-book domestically in Canada or European or Asian destinations.”
So far in 2025, CAA has seen an even bigger drop in travel insurance sales to the U.S., reversing an upward trend before the new year.
“Year-to-date travel insurance policy sales to the U.S. are down 22 per cent compared to last year,” Matos said. “Before (the first quarter of) 2025, our policy sales to the U.S. were on the rise.”
As a result, Matos said CAA has sold increasing numbers of travel insurance policies for other destinations, including “Mexico, Asian destinations, and other parts of Canada.”
CAA’s travel data tracks closely with border crossing data in Sault Ste. Marie, which has seen a 19.6-per-cent decrease in vehicle crossings to date in 2025, as crossings drop by greater and greater proportions each month compared with last year’s data.
This April, border crossings in Sault Ste. Marie dropped by a staggering 35.5 per cent compared to April 2024.