Canadians Keeping Their Elbows Up

Canadians are showing their true colours this year

Ever since Donald Trump tossed out the possibility of Canada becoming the 51st state, Canadians have fought back with their "Elbows Up" mentality and there's now a lot of data proving that.

Travel is the biggest sign in Canada shunning the United States. When it comes to Canadians traveling across the border by car, there is a whopping 34 percent drop in August compared to the same month last year. That's the eighth consecutive month of declines apart from the Covid-19 pandemic period.

Many are upset by Trump's calls for the 51st state

There is also a lot fewer Canadians traveling by air to the US too. In August, the number of Canadians returning from the US by plane fell 25.4 percent compared to the same month last year too.

Canadians used to love traveling to Las Vegas for entertainment, gambling, and food, but not so much anymore.

Flair Airlines saw the biggest plunge of 62 percent of Canadian passengers, while Air Canada's was 33 percent, and WestJet 31 percent. As a result the airlines have shuffled their planes and are using smaller ones going to Vegas these days.

Instead Canadians are traveling to Europe, the Caribbean, South America, and Japan. This year Air Canada added 28 international routes to satisfy demand.

Meanwhile when it comes to books written by Canadian authors, Indigo reports a 25 percent jump in sales compared to last year, and the CBC has seen a 34 percent increase in people checking out Gem, its streaming platform.

Even Historica, which promotes Canadian history through programs like Heritage Minutes has seen a noticeable uptick in the number of people checking out the Canadian Encyclopedia with more than 14 million views this year.

It's great to see how Canadians are determined to do as much as they can to keep their elbows up!