Though July showed a summer bump in the number of crossings, the six-straight months of overall declines have been devastating for some businesses, especially duty-free stores.
The number of 乌鸦传媒 cars crossing into Washington state in July were at their highest level since February 鈥 but it was still nearly a third fewer than a year ago.
Southbound crossings at the four main points of entry near Metro Vancouver were down 27.7 per cent last month compared to July 2024, according to data collected by the 乌鸦传媒 Ministry of Transportation and Washington State乌鸦传媒 Department of Transportation.
It乌鸦传媒 the sixth-straight month in which southbound crossings were down at Cascadia border crossings.
For some businesses, particularly duty-free stores, the decline has been devastating.
鈥溛谘淮 75 per cent of our business is made up from Canadians going to the U.S.A. That has dropped dramatically,鈥 said Cam Bissonnette, who owns two duty-free shops in Osoyoos.
鈥淧eople are not crossing the border. People are not coming into my store and they鈥檙e not buying. I鈥檝e got shelves full of product right now,鈥 he said.
The stores have been in Bissonnette乌鸦传媒 family since the mid-1980s and he recalls working in them with his parents and sister.
鈥淎 lot of these businesses in Canada are the same as me. They鈥檙e second-, third-generation operators. I鈥檝e grown up with a lot of these people,鈥 Bissonnette said.
Bissonnette said his business was down about 30 per cent in July, compared to last year. Duty-free shops are typically a seasonal business, with high sales during the summer that support slower winter months.
For Bissonnette, the collapse in business has meant hiring fewer staff and cutting opening hours down to eight a day from the usual 12.
鈥淲hen summertime comes around, usually we would hire a few more bodies at both stores, but we didn鈥檛 do that this year,鈥 he said.
Bissonnette also took a second job as a mortgage broker to help keep his businesses afloat, after struggling through extended border closures during the pandemic.
鈥淲e were still struggling to bounce back from the border being closed for two years from COVID,鈥 he said.
鈥淚t乌鸦传媒 getting scary,鈥 he said. 鈥淭here乌鸦传媒 not a lot of money going into the accounts right now.鈥
Bissonnette said even something as simple as low- or no-interest loans to get through this period would be helpful.