Businesses in Whatcom County, Washington say reduced cross-border shopping has hurt sales, and a Western Washington University report estimates the county lost about US$64 million in Canadian spending from 2024 to 2025.
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Businesses just over the Canada-U.S. border in Whatcom County say the loss of Canadian shoppers is continuing to affect them, with some reporting significant reductions in sales activity.
Northwest Yarns in Bellingham, owned by Echo Mae, said its business is down to “a little bit more than 20 per cent of a loss of business,” adding that the decline is “directly attributable to Canadians not coming down here.” Mae said the impact has forced difficult decisions, including cutting staff hours and shifting away from luxury products, warning, “A lasting impact, and if this continues, would be that we’d have to shut down the business, and we desperately don’t want to do that.”
Mae said the broader downturn is not limited to her shop. A report from Western Washington University estimates Whatcom County lost around US$64 million in Canadian spending between 2024 and 2025.
The report attributes the decline to factors tied to the strained political and economic climate between Canada and the U.S., including a weak Canadian dollar. It also says Canadian shopping visits have fallen 71 per cent compared with 2019.
Western Washington University’s Border Policy Research Institute director Laurie Trautman said Canadians who are still crossing the border are doing so less for economic reasons such as shopping and purchasing gas, and more to visit family or friends or to recreate. Trautman said businesses “were no longer treating this lack of Canadian visitors as a temporary situation that they sort of had to wait out,” adding they view it “as a more medium to potentially longer-term scenario.”
The report also points to early 2025 changes connected to the Donald Trump administration’s trade policy, including steep trade tariffs against Canada and threats of taking over the nation, which it says prompted a backlash and led some travellers to scale back cross-border travel and spending on American goods.
While local retailers are feeling the strain, the Bellingham Regional Chamber of Commerce said the Canada-U.S. relationship extends beyond retail. Chamber president and CEO Guy Occhiogrosso said, “We’re here and ready to welcome all of you back when you’re ready to be back.”
Mae said she is hoping shoppers will return. “Oh gosh, we miss them so much,” she said. “We miss all of you so much.”
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