Dear Americans Visiting Canada,
For the past fifteen years, half of my readers here have come from the United States, and I love that. I think many of you land here assuming I’m American, and honestly, on the surface there’s a lot of similarities. You probably don’t even realize it until you see the word cheque, or notice that I drop a “u” into random words like, colour. And with a site called Life in Pleasantville, let me tell you I have been the recipient of more invitations to events in Pleasantville, New York than I can count. So believe me when I say: I see you, I know you’re there, and I have always been glad you’re here.
But there has been a rupture. That’s the word our Prime Minister used, and it’s the right one. The relationship between Canada and the United States is being reworked in real time, and that is not nothing. We are allowed to say so.
Does that mean Americans visiting Canada aren’t welcome? Absolutely not. We want you here. Well, most of you. Probably the ones searching this very topic, the ones genuinely wondering whether it’s okay to come, whether the current circumstances have changed things between us. And yes, by circumstances I mean the orange circumstance currently consuming your country and upending your relationships around the globe.
So yes, some things have changed. Consider this your field guide to Americans visiting Canada in 2026
Are Americans Visiting Canada Still Welcome?
Yes. Genuinely, warmly, unambiguously yes.
A survey of 400 Halifax residents found that 75 per cent plan to be as welcoming or more welcoming to American tourists than before. Tourism boards from British Columbia to Ontario are actively rolling out the welcome mat. The phrase making the rounds in the Canadian tourism industry right now is “elbows up on policy, arms open to visitors,” and that about sums it up.
We are frustrated with your government and those that support him. We are not frustrated with you. Those are two different things, and most Canadians can hold two thoughts in their head at the same time.
That said, there are some things worth knowing before you pack your bags. Consider this your field guide to Americans visiting Canada in 2026, from someone who loves this country and wants you to love it too.
What Americans Visiting Canada Need to Know
We Are a Sovereign Nation. Act Accordingly.
This shouldn’t need to be said, and yet here we are. Canada is not the 51st state. It is not part of Greater North America. It is not an extension of the United States with better manners and worse winters. It is its own country, with its own history, its own laws, its own culture, and its own very firm opinion about its own sovereignty.
If you believe otherwise, this is where I gently but firmly suggest you stay home. Visiting a country while believing it should belong to yours is not really a visit. It’s something else entirely and we don’t want it.
And while we’re here: don’t joke about it either. In another time, in a different political climate, the 51st state bit might have landed as a harmless eye-roll moment between neighbours who know each other well enough to kid around. That time is not now. We are raw. We have been threatened, repeatedly and seriously, by a country we considered family. The wound is fresh and it is real. A joke that touches it, even one you mean lightly, will not be received lightly. Read the room, leave that one alone entirely, and we’ll all have a much better time.
Check Your Exceptionalism at the Border
This one is for the well-meaning Americans too, not just the MAGA crowd. American exceptionalism is so baked into the culture that many people don’t even notice they’re doing it. The assumption that American ways are the default, that your system is the benchmark everything else is measured against, that bigger automatically means better.
Canada is not a smaller, colder, less successful version of the United States. It is a different country with different values, different priorities, and a different idea of what a good society looks like. You will make friends here significantly faster if you arrive curious rather than comparative.
Leave the Hat at Home
You know the one. Leave it.
This isn’t about politics, it’s about reading the room. A MAGA hat in Canada right now is not a neutral fashion choice. It is a statement, and Canadians will receive it as one. If that surprises you, I’d encourage you to think about what that hat represents to the country your president has been threatening to annex.
Come as yourself. Leave the merch behind.
Your Guns Stay Home Too
This one is not a suggestion, a political opinion, or up for debate in the comments.
Canada has strict gun laws. Bringing a firearm across the Canadian border without proper declaration and authorization is a serious criminal offence. Not a fine. Not a slap on the wrist. A criminal offence with real consequences. Plan accordingly, which is to say, leave them at home.
We Have Two Official Languages. Both Matter.
Canada has two official languages: English and French. I’ll be transparent with you, I don’t speak French. It is a personal failing I live with daily. But I respect it enormously, and so should you.
If you’re visiting Quebec, New Brunswick, or any francophone community, please don’t arrive expecting everyone to switch to English on your behalf. Some will, graciously. But the effort goes a long way. Bonjour. Merci. Comment allez-vous. Even a halting, accent-heavy attempt is received with warmth. It signals that you understand you are a guest in a place with its own linguistic identity, and that you respect it.
Bonus: it is genuinely fun to try. Nobody will laugh at you. With you, but not at you.
Yes, We’re Nice. But Don’t Confuse That With Pushover.
The stereotypes are true. We apologize to inanimate objects when we bump into them. We will hold the door open for you even if we have to squint to see you coming from half a block away. We say sorry reflexively, genuinely, and often. We are polite in a way that can feel almost suspicious to people who aren’t used to it.
But here’s what the last year has made very clear, to ourselves and to the world: nice is not the same as passive. Friendly is not the same as a pushover. Canada has spent the better part of the past year pushing back, loudly and collectively, against a much larger and louder neighbour. We boycotted. We redirected billions of dollars. We put our elbows up. We elected a Prime Minister on a platform of standing firm.
We did all of that politely, for the most part. But we did it.
So come here, enjoy the warmth and the genuine hospitality, and know that it is real. Just don’t mistake it for weakness. The country that holds the door open for you is the same country that just told the most powerful man in the world exactly where he could put his annexation plans. We’re nice. We’re just not that nice.
We Are a Mosaic, Not a Melting Pot
This is one of the most fundamental differences between our two countries and it shapes everything. Canada does not ask people to assimilate. We ask people to co-exist. The goal was never for everyone to become the same. It was for everyone to belong as they are.
What that means for you as a visitor is that Canada looks and sounds and feels different from what you might expect. One of the things Americans visiting Canada notice quickly is how genuinely multicultural our cities are. That’s not an accident. It’s a value. Appreciate it.
Don’t Import Your Politics. Even the Good Ones.
This one surprises people. Canada is already way ahead on healthcare, gun control, LGBTQ+ rights, and reproductive freedom. We didn’t get here because of American influence. We got here because we made different choices as a country.
So if you arrive wanting to use Canada as a proving ground for your progressive politics, or to relitigate debates we settled decades ago, that energy is not really needed here. Come and enjoy what we’ve built. Learn from it if you like. But we’re not a political project. We’re just a country that made some good calls, and that’s always striving to be better.
The Weather Is Not What You Think
Let’s clear something up. A lot of Americans seem to picture crossing the Canadian border and landing somewhere between Narnia and the tundra, regardless of the time of year. That is not reality.
Yes, Canadian winters are real and they are not for the faint of heart. But Canada in July? Ottawa has literally earned the nickname ‘HOttawa’. Toronto gets humid in a way that will humble you. Vancouver is mild enough to make you question your life choices back home in Michigan. The summers here are genuinely beautiful, warm, and in some parts of the country, aggressively so.
Canada is a massive country and the weather varies enormously depending on where you go and when. A quick Google search for your specific destination will tell you exactly what to pack. Do that. It will serve you well.
One practical note: we use Celsius, not Fahrenheit. So if your weather app tells you it’s going to be 28 degrees and you’re quietly panicking, download a conversion app and breathe. You’re going to be fine. You might even be a little sweaty.
A Note on the Exchange Rate
Your dollar goes further here right now. That’s just a fact. Dinner, hotels, experiences, all of it stretches nicely when you’re spending USD in Canada. We’re not mad about it. Come spend your money here. It is genuinely a good time to do it.
One practical note though: USD is not widely accepted in Canadian stores, so you will need to exchange your money for Canadian dollars before or when you arrive. Welcome to the world of loonies and toonies. Yes, those are real words. The loonie is our one dollar coin, the toonie is our two dollar coin, and yes we named them that and we stand by it.
And one more thing. Our money is considerably more colourful than yours. Like, genuinely beautiful. Purple tens, blue fives, green twenties. It looks like it was designed by someone who actually wanted to make something worth looking at. You’re going to love it.
Legend also has it that Canadian bills smell faintly of maple syrup. We cannot confirm or deny this. It may just be that everything here smells like maple syrup at this point. We have made our peace with it.
What Canadians Actually Think of Americans Right Now
Here’s the honest answer, because you deserve one.
We don’t think you’re all the same. We never have. We know that millions of Americans are horrified by what is happening in their country right now, that they are fighting hard, showing up, and refusing to give in. We see you. We admire you. We are rooting for you.
And we understand, maybe better than you think, just how exhausting it must be to live inside that right now. The data actually tells that story better than any opinion piece can.
A Pew Research survey asked people in 25 countries to rate the morality and ethics of their fellow citizens. Canada came in at 92 per cent. The United States came in at 47 per cent, last on the list.
Just leaving that there.
That number is not a reflection of individual Americans. It is a reflection of a country so divided, so battered by its own political crisis, that more than half of its own people have lost faith in each other. That is heartbreaking. It is also exactly why we want you to come north, take a breath, and understand for yourself why we are not the same. We want Americans visiting Canada to come and see for themselves.
Where Americans Visiting Canada Should Go First
Now for the fun part. Canada is enormous and spectacular and wildly undervisited by Americans who keep defaulting to the same beach in Florida. Here are a few places worth putting on your radar.
Cape Breton Island in Nova Scotia is one of the most beautiful places on earth and I will die on that hill. The Cabot Trail alone is worth the flight. If you come in October during Celtic Colours festival, you will leave a different person.
Toronto and Montreal are world-class cities that punch well above their weight for food, culture, and general aliveness. Quebec City feels like Europe without the jet lag. Banff and Jasper will make you question every landscape you thought was impressive before.
Small town Ontario is having a moment and I have written extensively about it. The Eastern Townships of Quebec are stunning and criminally underrated. And if you want somewhere with genuine heart and history and the best fiddle music you have ever heard in your life, Newfoundland is waiting.
I’ve been writing about Canadian travel for over a decade. Start here and let me save you some research.
One Last Thing for Americans Visiting Canada
Take your shoes off when you enter someone’s home.
I know this seems small. I know some of you are already rolling your eyes. But this is Canada, and we take our shoes off at the door. Every time. At our own homes, at our friends’ homes, at our neighbours’ homes. You will know you have truly arrived when you find yourself apologizing to an inanimate object for bumping into it and automatically reaching for your laces the moment you step inside.
Welcome to Canada. We’re glad you’re here. Now leave your shoes at the door.
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