Some Ontario residents who typically spend their winters in the U.S. say they’ve recently opted to buy property in Mexico instead.
The shift comes as some snowbirds grow uneasy about the political climate under U.S. President Donald Trump. John Kawiuk and Sharron MacKay, from Mississauga, told CBC Toronto they started feeling apprehensive after years of wintering in Florida.
“There was situations where we weren’t welcome,” MacKay said. “Even from a security standpoint, as Canadians, we just didn’t feel comfortable anymore.”
So they changed their plans and bought a place in Campeche, Mexico, last year.
George and Tracy McCabe from Niagara Falls, Ont., similarly said politics were a big factor in leaving their Florida home of 12 years for Campeche in 2022.
“We knew after the first administration that this was not going to be pretty and we knew [Trump] was going to get in. We knew we had to get out,” Tracy told CBC Toronto.
The Canadian Snowbird Association estimates around one million Canadians travel south for the winter each year. That includes around three per cent of Ontario residents over 65 years old, according to a 2021 research article in the Canadian Medical Association Journal.
But a recent survey by Snowbird Advisor found the number of respondents intending to winter in the U.S. this year is down from 82 per cent last year to 70 per cent this year.
The online resource and insurance provider for snowbirds surveyed its 100,000 members and received 4,000 responses. Around 55 per cent were from Ontario. Their results may not be indicative of snowbirds in general.
That’s actually not that big of a drop when compared to overall travel to the U.S. by Canadians, according to Stephen Fine, Snowbird Advisor president — Statistics Canada reports that was down by 24 per cent last November from the year before.
“The U.S. will always be the number one destination for Canadian snowbirds,” Fine said. “[But] travel to international destinations by Canadian snowbirds has almost doubled this year.”
That figure is up to 23 per cent this year from 12 per cent last year, Fine said.
Those who have made the move to Mexico, including Janice DaSilva-Pearcy and Don Pearcy from Niagara-on-the-Lake, say they have no regrets about making the decision.
“We love the culture here. It’s totally different than back home,” DaSilva-Pearcy told CBC Toronto. “We’re trying to immerse ourselves into it more and take part in some of the festivities that they have down here.”
Many Canadians are passing on U.S. travel — not these snowbirds
The political climate also contributed to their decision to buy a place in Mexico in 2022, but they said affordability was really the driving factor.
“It was our retirement plan to move to Florida, but fees were just increasing, [so that] was really the main reason that we were looking to move elsewhere,” DaSilva-Pearcy said.
Kawiuk and MacKay agreed that the high cost of living in the U.S. was a motivating factor for their move.
“The cost of everything here is a lot less. Food, housing, clothing, equipment, everything is a lot less,” Kawiuk said.
They also want people to know they feel much safer in Campeche.
“Often you hear back in Canada, ‘Are you nervous? Do you feel concerned?’ And it’s the complete opposite. It’s very safe here,” MacKay said.
George and Tracy McCabe echoed those sentiments, saying they feel safer in Mexico than they did while wintering in Florida due to the state’s open carry gun law.
“We lived in a gated community in Florida and we only left it to go to the grocery store,” George said. “We knew where the exits were in every store we went into.”
Canada’s travel advisory website includes a warning for Mexico, advising travellers to “exercise a high degree of caution due to high levels of criminal activity and kidnapping.”
