More and more Canadian 'snowbirds' deciding against travel to Arizona, Florida, in favor of staying put

COVID-19 has taken its toll on the tourism industry, and as we head into winter, it’s now impacting snowbirds and part-time residents.

Bob Slack and his wife Lois have been wintering in Florida for the last 22 years, but this year, because of the pandemic, they’re trading in the golf clubs for snow shovels, preparing for the long Canadian winter ahead.

“We're missing the sunshine and we're missing the warmth,” said Slack. “We had to go out and buy some things… my wife Lois she didn't have a winter coat or any boots. Didn't have snow tires so I had to buy snow tires for the vehicle.”

The Canadian Snowbird Association says Florida is the most popular winter destination for Canadians who routinely head south for the season, with around half a million of them visiting the state in a normal year. They estimate around 3.5 million Canadians, including non-snowbirds, visit the state each year and spend around $6.5 billion.

However, as virus cases rise, border shutdowns keep getting extended. The Canadian borders will remain closed to nonessential vehicle travel until at least January 21, 2021. They can still fly into the U.S., but most are opting to stay home.

“With our age, we're the ones that are susceptible to contracting the disease," said Slack. "We could have flown to Florida and shipped the car down but we didn't want to do that."

The second most popular destination, according to the Canadian Snowbird Association, is Arizona. Canadians make up the largest group of foreign homeowners there, with 97% of all international residents residing in the Greater Phoenix area alone.

However, the Arizona Office of Tourism reports airport passenger traffic is down 52% this year. Now, many Canadians are hiring property management companies to check on their second homes. Jesse Csincsak, owner of Arizona Home Check and Colorado Home Check, says they’re busier than ever.

“We are up by over 75% business-wise," said Csincsak. "This year we had two different scenarios happen: a lot of our Canadian customers have either hunkered down at home because they can't get here to Arizona to enjoy the beautiful weather, or they can't get home, so they hunker down here in Arizona”.

On top of looking after and maintaining homes, Arizona Home Check can also run errands for their clients who did make it out. 

“Grocery shopping has been a big ticket item this year — people are just afraid, they don't want to go out, they don't want the possibility of getting sick. For us being able to provide that service for them, has been something that they've been really excited to take advantage of," said Csincsak.

According to the Arizona Office of Tourism, around 964,000 Canadian visitors were responsible for $1 billion of the $26.5 billion in tourism spending last year. This past September, visitors spent $752 million overall, but that’s down 60% from the $1.9 billion expected in a normal year.

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As for the Slacks, they’re optimistic about the new COVID-19 vaccines. And if the borders reopen and cases go down, they hope to return.

“We feel it’s more important to maintain our health. There'll be another [summer], as long as we stay healthy. There will be another year, and we can go and enjoy it,” said Slack.