Though Canadian seniors continue to resist President Trump’s tariff and sovereignty messaging – especially the bit about a 51st state – younger cohorts are rediscovering their southbound summer travel plans and returning to the beaches, bars and baseball parks which they have come to recognize as their own. Well, many of them are. As reported by Signal49 Research (the new brand for the Conference Board of Canada), 70 per cent of surveyed Canadians planned to take a vacation trip this summer (2026), up from 68 per cent in 2025. But fewer intended to stay home in protest as they did last year – 29 per cent choosing to vacation outside of Canada, up from 25 per cent at the start of the 2025 season. This shrinkage was most noticeable among travellers aged 18-34 and 35-54; both age groups preferring to vacation outside of Canada, one-third to U.K./Europe and 30 per cent to the U.S. And, as with last summer, travellers aged 55 + were more likely than other cohorts to have Europe/U.K. and, perhaps, Latin America in their plans (48 per cent). In this context, Latin America refers to Mexico, the Caribbean countries, and Central and South America. Despite these shifts to U.K./Europe and Latin America, Canadians in the 18-34 and 35-54 age groups continue to prefer travel to the U.S. – a less expensive and more easily accessible choice than travel abroad. This is the case especially as the Canadian dollar is growing stronger against the U.S. greenback and gas prices remain in the middle to lower $3 per U.S. gallon range throughout the middle and southern states. That’s no small concern to generations who claim relative poverty as a major hurdle to their travel prospects. Gas price in Lakeland, Florida as of this writing on June 10, 2026, was $3.05. To add another perspective, the Smart Traveller Survey commissioned by the Travel Health Insurance Association of Canada and released in May 2026 shows that, while 63 per cent of Canadians plan to travel this summer, interest in U.S.-bound travel is increasingly concentrated among the younger generations. Before we get to key trends, let’s agree on language slang. Gen Z are 13-29; Millennials, 29-45; Gen X, 45-61; Boomers, 61-80; and Silent generation, 80-98. Key trends revealed in the Smart Traveller Survey show a widening generational divide regarding U.S.-bound travel and other countries abroad: Gen Zs are favouring U.S. travel in 2026 with 45 per cent saying that they’re likely to travel south of the border, compared to only eight per cent of Boomers making that same choice. And, among Canadians planning to travel in 2026, nearly two-thirds of Gen Zs are favouring the U.S. on their itinerary – that’s ahead of Millennials, who claim 48 per cent willingness to travel to U.S. and Boomers, with only 14 per cent. Senior Canadians Hold Fast to Southbound Travel Detour. Kids…Not So Much. By Milan Korcok 22 | www.snowbirds.org Travel
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