Border mayors call for financial support for duty-free shops

By Brian Owens, The Courier

Duty-free shops and other businesses that rely on cross-border traffic are “facing literal demise” and desperately need financial support from the federal government to help them weather the effects of tariffs and a dramatic drop in travel to the United States, according to the Frontier Duty Free Association and Border Mayors Alliance.

“Border community businesses that depend on cross-border traffic like Duty-Free stores, which are 100% reliant on Canadians crossing into the United States, are at a breaking point,” said Barbara Barret, executive director of the Frontier Duty Free Association in a press conference on Mar. 21. “We are calling on the federal government to step up now with targeted financial support and a plan that recognizes the unique vulnerabilities of border-dependent communities and the businesses that keep them alive.”

Cross-border trips have dropped dramatically in recent months, due to the continued threat of tariffs and President Donald Trump’s comments about Canada becoming the 51st state. In February, the number of Canadians returning to Canada via the two crossings in St. Stephen fell by 24 per cent compared with Feb. 2024.

This blow comes as businesses such as duty-free shops in border communities are still struggling to recover from the 20-month-long border closure during the COVID-19 pandemic, Barrett explained.

St. Stephen Mayor Allan MacEachern told the press conference that communities all along the border had “suffered greatly” through the pandemic and “we still haven’t got our feet under us from that”.

“When people and products don’t cross our borders it’s a huge impact to our communities,” he said. “We need to know that our government’s got our backs.”

The federal government, and the government of New Brusnwick have said that money will be available to help support businesses affected by tariffs.

Trina Jones, mayor of Woodstock, N.B., said that since businesses like duty-free qualified for support during the pandemic, there is no reason they should not be included now.

“I hope the government learned things from the pandemic, and remembers them today,” she said.

Cam Bissonnette, who owns two duty-free shops in British Columbia, struggled to fight back tears as he told the press conference how he is not sure whether he will be able to keep his business afloat.

“It feels like we’re hostages in economic warfare,” he said. “We’re not looking for a lot of money, we just want to stay solvent and pay our staff.”