SEATTLE — Bob Donegan took one look at the ticket sales for the upcoming Mariners and Blue Jays series and realized something was off.

“We’re still below 20,000 total season tickets sold for that weekend, which means none of our Canadian friends are coming, and we miss them,” says the longtime CEO of Ivar’s and unofficial Mayor of the Waterfront.

“The Canadian Tour visits from Victoria Clipper in March were down 58% from Victoria. The border crossings at Blaine in January were 5,000 vehicles a day. In February, it was 3,500 vehicles a day. In March, it was 1,800 vehicles a day,” said Donegan. “There are fewer Canadians coming to town…I think they’re really upset with the tariffs, and with suggestions about the 51st state, and they’re angry with the other Washington.”

Longtime civic leader and business owner Howard Wright agrees.

“I mean, this isn’t how we treat our neighbors. It’s not how I treat my neighbors. I consider our regional neighbors to be Oregon, Idaho and British Columbia, and we’re all part of the Cascadia area, and this isn’t how you treat people,” Wright said.

That’s why they’ve teamed up for a grassroots effort to offer steep discounts for Canadians beginning with that upcoming weekend with the Blue Jays series.

They have launched a campaign called “Open Arms for Canada”, along with multiple businesses.

Its website reads:

“We love our Canadian neighbors and we regret how our federal government is treating you. We wish we could change what happens in the other Washington. What we can do is show our thanks to your for being here. So, we’re taking the Canadian Dollar at par – marking 30% off your tab to account for the exchange rate. It’s our way of saying, “We’re glad you’re here and we’re on your side.

It continues, “We respect that your elbows are up, for you, we’re keeping our arms open.”

Argosy Cruises, the Victoria Clipper, Space Needle, Kenmore Air, and Ivar’s headline the list of “Open Arms” participants. Ethan Stowell Restaurants, Spinasse, Artusi, Fremont Brewing, the Sheraton Grand, and multiple other hotels are also part of the growing list.

“If they show a driver’s license or a passport, or if they use their Canadian accent, eh, we’ll accept that,” said Donegan with his tongue fully in cheek.

However, there are multiple numbers to suggest Canadians have cancelled their plans for weeks now, ever since President Trump talked about annexing the country or hitting Canada with significant tariffs. The issues were significant numbers in Monday’s Canadian elections, too.

“Today, I think we only had four customers,” said Peter Raju, who owns the 18,000 square foot Duty Free store just north of the Peach Arch in White Rock. He spoke via ZOOM, showing off a store with no customers. “(BC Premier) David Eby advised British Columbians not to visit the US, and immediately following that, we had an 80% decline in March.”

“President Trump’s repeated remarks about this being the 51st state, I think that brings a lot of Canadians, including myself, not very happy about that statement being made of annexation of Canada,” said Raju. “Americans are always welcome. They are like family. As it states at the Peace Arch crossing, that we are the children of the same mother, and that these gates never close.”

Yet, according to the Cascade Gateway and the Border Policy Research Institute at Western Washington University, land border crossings have plummeted. There has been a 43% decrease in Canadian vehicles at Whatcom County crossings, including Blaine, over March of last year, and the number is growing in April with a drop off of 52% from April of 2024 to 2025 thus far.

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The Mariners caution that they do get a fair amount of Canadian walk-up ticket buyers during the annual Blue Jays series, and this is the earliest the M’s will have hosted them since the 2011 season. Most of the series have been in the summer months. M’s Vice President of Communications, Tim Hevly, said attendance was in the low 20,000 per night range for a series in May of 2010, and is confident the normal Canadian visitors will flock to T-Mobile Park for the series next month.

According to Donegan, Canadians amount to about 10% of the waterfront visitors in any given year. “They’re friendly, they’re goofy, they have that delightful Canadian accent, eh, and they’re pleasant as could be. We miss seeing our friends,” said Donegan.