These snowbirds stayed home because of the weak dollar – and they’re having a blast

Brian and Susan Van Norman have spent eight winters in Florida, trading Canada’s cold, snowy first three months of the year for the Sunshine State’s warm beaches. But this year, the snowbirds decided to clip their wings.

The couple is staying put at their Waterloo, Ont., home, joining the ranks of other Canadians skipping their usual winter escape.

Soaring inflation, a weak Canadian dollar and rising rental prices have made the trip down south less affordable.

A new survey from EQ Bank EQB-T with Angus Reid found that 69 per cent of Canadians believe a weak loonie will negatively affect their finances, and 79 per cent of those respondents are considering various strategies to manage the impact. Among those weighing different options, 63 per cent are considering travelling less to the U.S. or countries where the U.S. dollar is widely accepted.

Instead, some of these Canadians are reinvesting their time, and money, back into themselves, and choosing to explore their own backyards.

Half of Canadians who have travel plans for 2025 will focus on travelling domestically because of the weak loonie, according to EQ Bank’s survey.

Is now a good time for snowbirds to sell their American nests?

Kris Rossignoli, a cross-border tax and financial planner at Cardinal Point Capital Management ULC in New York, said he’s mostly seeing renters – rather than those who own property in the U.S. – cancel their trips down south this year.

For some of his clients, rent prices in the U.S. “have gone up 25 per cent,” Mr. Rossignoli said. “The reality is that they may not be able to afford to go.”

Mr. Van Norman, 75, estimates that he and his wife typically spend about $15,000 on their Florida trip each year, with a large chunk going toward rent. With the Canadian dollar trading at around 69 cents against the greenback, their expenses would have likely risen to about $20,000 this year, he estimated.

The final reason to cancel their trip was U.S. President Donald Trump’s re-election. “We don’t agree with the policies of Trump,” he said.

Instead, the couple decided to spend their money and time on their own health and interests.

They joined a local health club which charges about $100 a month each, a small price compared to what they would have spent in Florida. The fitness classes have helped Mr. Van Norman recover from the back and hip surgeries he has had in the last two years, he said.

Ms. Van Norman has been spending the extra time on a leadership role in a local women’s group. Mr. Van Norman has been able to work with his publisher on releasing a trilogy of novels and plans on writing more books.

Where to travel on a weak Canadian dollar? Forget Florida and look to Japan, Thailand and Portugal

An unexpected benefit for braving the cold has been the value of time spent at home, the couple said. “We’re having more people over for dinner,” Mr. Van Norman said. “We are exploring our city.”

Mr. Rossignoli said that while some Canadians are cancelling their trips entirely, others are just cutting back on their time down south.

That’s the case for Joyce Effinger and her husband, who usually visit their child in Seattle and extend the trip into a longer American road trip, stopping in places such as Las Vegas, Oregon, California, Texas and Indiana. This year, the road trip is off.

“We used to sort of make more of a holiday of it,” the 65-year-old said. “We’re planning on flying there and flying back to Canada from now on.”

Like the Van Normans, Ms. Effinger, who is based near North Bay, Ont., is put off by the political climate in America and the weak Canadian dollar.

“We don’t feel comfortable right now with the political situation in the States, nor do we feel like supporting them too much,” she said.

The couple usually spends around US$5,000, or roughly $7,000, on their annual trip. But Ms. Effinger expects that if they were to do the same trip this year, it would cost more.

Instead, Ms. Effinger plans to invest more in her painting, buying new supplies, and her husband, who she said is a “stereophile,” might use the extra loonies to buy a new amplifier.

Ms. Effinger is also considering a trip within Canada – possibly to the West Coast. “There are a lot of places to go in Canada,” she said.