Name: Some Montana businesses say they miss their Canadian customers
Uploaded: 2025-12-20T03:43:30.420Z
Duration: 2 min 27 s
Description: From Cut Bank to Kalispell, Mont., shop owners have seen a steep decline in visitors from Canada. They cite a number of potential reasons: rhetoric from their president, the value of the Canadian dollar and heightened border security.

From Cut Bank to Kalispell, Mont., shop owners have seen a steep decline in visitors from Canada. They cite a number of potential reasons: rhetoric from their president, the value of the Canadian dollar and heightened border security.

Kalispell

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Businesses in Montana, particularly in towns like Cutbank and Kalispell, have noticed a marked decline in Canadian visitors. Shop owners attribute this drop to a combination of factors, including negative political rhetoric, reports of border delays and detentions, and an unfavorable exchange rate for Canadians. 

To counteract the decline, some businesses are offering discounts and highlighting their welcoming atmosphere, though many believe that improved currency parity and a less divisive political climate are necessary for a full recovery in cross-border tourism.

Some Montana businesses say they miss their Canadian customers

So these are prints from an artist in Billings, Montana. At this gift shop in Cutbank, Montana you'll find products made by local artisans. Popular gifts for Canadian shoppers but there's fewer people crossing the border to buy them. They feel insulted and they feel unwelcome. She says comments from the U.S. president haven't helped along with stories about the difficulty some Canadians have experienced at the border from delays to being detained. Well I think there's definitely a chill and people you know are reluctant to cross the border especially if they're worried about getting back which some of our friends are. I think it's really sad because we have wonderful friends in Canada and it's always you know that the border just seemed like more of a suggestion than a hard line. And now it seems like a hard line. It's been a rough year for Montana tourism. Through the summer months alone the number of Canadian visitors dropped by 132,000. We don't take you for granted and we definitely miss you. At this Westernware shop in Kalispell the owner has built a special bond with Canadians. Calgary Stampede posters hang on the walls inside the store. Something he says Canadians love to see but he's not seeing many of them anymore. I'm sure there's some rhetoric that you know our president has said that probably hasn't helped but what I talk to Canadians is mainly the dollar. The exchange rate is they're having a harder time justifying coming down paying for lodging, food and then purchases. One strategy to lure Canadians back to the city of 30,000 offer discounts. We know and fully respect and understand that not everybody is comfortable visiting the United States right now. When they are ready to come we just want them to know that Kalispell's welcome mat is always out and we're a safe and welcoming community. Peary says the discounts are helping a bit. He says the key will be more parity between the Canadian and American dollars. So what days are you posting about that one? Back in Cutbank, Lisa Klein says something else needs to change before Canadians will consider coming back. I think we're in a tremendous period of political divisiveness and I think that the polarity of the political climate in the United States needs to be remediated. Until that happens her message to Canadians is that they're more than welcome to come down for a visit. Brian Labbe, CBC News, Cutbank, Montana.

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Some Montana businesses say they miss their Canadian customers

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