SAULT STE. MARIE — A Northern Michigan business leader says that his region is seeing some of the impacts of reduced border crossings from Canada.
Travel over the border of Sault Ste. Marie, MI, saw a decline in 2025, potentially a result of increased international strife between the the U.S. and its northern neighbor.
“Our traffic has been down for a variety of reasons — but for the most part, we anticipate a solid spring leading into a great summer ‘26,” said Tony Haller, executive director of the Sault Area Chamber of Commerce.
The border community is home to one of Michigan’s four currently operating international land crossings, connecting over into Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario.
Data from U.S. Customs and Border Protection shows that in 2025, fewer than half a million travelers entered Sault Ste. Marie from Canada (466,408). That’s more than a hundred thousand less than 2024’s total (553,217).
Haller says he expects travel to pick up in the warm months like usual — but some challenges could persist.
“Right now, the traffic is down from a Canadian standpoint, but in the area — because of the weather, we’ve got a lot of snowmobilers in the area taking advantage of the winter up here,” he said. “There’s been a lot of things to do in our area, it’s just that our Canadian count has been down. But hopefully, things will get straightened out where they’ll come back and support our local economy.”
In the peak travel month of August, about 15,000 fewer travelers entered Sault Ste. Marie from Canada in 2025 (50,591), a drop of nearly a quarter from the same month in 2024 (65,980).
Currently, President Trump is threatening to intervene in the opening of the Gordie Howe Bridge, an international crossing in Detroit set to open early this year.
The bridge will be the third international crossing between Detroit and Windsor.
Haller also says that despite the reduced number of crossings, communities on either side of the border don’t seem to be totally shutting out their international neighbors.
“I haven’t seen or heard of people just, you know, not getting along. I think we’re kind of in a unique area where where people are just happy to take — you know, Americans going to Sault, Ontario,” he said. “I think in our area anyway, we have a good relationship with our friends and neighbors into Ontario, and hopefully that’ll continue for the foreseeable future.”