Canada's Duty-Free Stores Face Closure, Seek Regulatory Fixes

0:00Canada's land border duty-free stores are in deep trouble, with industry leaders from the Frontier Duty Free Association pushing the federal. Government for quick regulatory fixes. At a press event in Ottawa on March 25th and 26th, 2026, they highlighted a sharp drop in cross-border travel. That's crushing sales. Return trips from the United States fell 22% in January, 2026, the 13th straight month of decline, leading to... New losses of 60 to 80% for many operators. About one-third of their 32 member stores could shut down by years end, without changes. The group points to unfair rules that put Canadian shops at a disadvantage against U.S. competitors right across the border. They're calling for tax tweaks, treating duty-free sales as full exports, and cutting red tape like strict labeling. Ongoing trade spats between Canada and the United States have scared off leisure travelers, while business trucking holds steady, but doesn't help.

1:00Much. Border mayors from places like Windsor, Sarnia, and Niagara Falls back to Plei, saying these stores anchor local economies in small towns with few. Job options. Many are family-run businesses operating for generations, and closures with hit employment and taxes hard. The recent shutdown of the Woodstock Shop shows what's at stake. Operators are still shaking off pandemic deaths from border closures between 2020 and 2022, with sales far below old. Levels. A big sticking point is the export mismatch, where goods leaving the country get treated like domestic sales for some rules, hurting competitiveness. As pressure builds from businesses and locals, Ottawa's next moves could save jobs, rural communities, and a key export player from fading away. Local news. Powered by AI? This is Toronto News Today. I'm Corey, with the story.