Duty free stores look for financial support as cross-border traffic drops

OTTAWA — An association representing duty free stores and a group of 15 mayors from border cities have written a letter to the federal government asking for financial support and clarity on export rules.

The Frontier Duty Free Association said its members have seen their revenue decline by 60 to 80 per cent as cross-border traffic slows due to the U.S. trade war.

“If the current trend continues, one third of our members say they could be forced to close,” association president Tania Lee told an Ottawa press conference Tuesday.

Drew Dilkens, mayor of Windsor, Ont., said the duty free business is down about 40 per cent at the country’s busiest land border crossing — the Ambassador Bridge to Detroit.

“We have about 6,000 people who cross to work every day from Windsor into Detroit. And those folks are continuing to cross into the United States,” Dilkens said.

“It’s really on the discretionary travel side where we see Canadians making a different choice with respect to entering the United States, which is having an immediate and dramatic impact on duty free operations in our city and across the country.”

The association is asking for “immediate” cash support for duty free stores, which they say are often key employers in small border communities.

Association executive director Barbara Barrett said her organization doesn’t have a specific dollar figure in mind but argued it would be a small sum compared to other tariff supports.

“We don’t need much. We’re a very small industry, so whereas I know they’re very focused on some of the big industries, I would say on the flip side of that we’re not asking for a lot to help us weather this storm,” Barrett said.

The association also says it wants the federal government to align excise tax policies and export status with American duty free rules, something they say would make them more competitive with U.S. stores.

Barrett said that duty free stores in small communities in Western and Eastern Canada are seeing the steepest drops in traffic.

Mike Bradley, mayor of Sarnia, Ont., said that this isn’t a “fat cat” industry and there’s a strong case for keeping the duty free sector afloat.

“(The government) said they would operate like a business. There’s a strong business case to keep this industry alive,” he said. “And the reality is that if the industry fails across this country, some future government in the next five to ten years is going to have to reinvent the duty free industry.”

The association represents 32 duty free stores across the country.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 3, 2025.

David Baxter, The Canadian Press