Canadian snowbirds could pay nearly $1,000 to visit the U.S.

Canadian snowbirds may want to double-check their wallets before visiting the south this winter. A U.S.-Canada border rule change may slap them with almost $1,000 a year in paperwork and fees. That’s right, all in exchange for the privilege of crossing the border to escape snowdrifts and hockey tournaments.

This new rule is aimed at "snowbirds." You know, Canadians who spend winter in warm places like Florida and Arizona? The new rule has extra travel authorizations, new tracking systems, and a fee that quickly runs up if you are making multiple trips. Not to mention possibly having to hire a service just to help you navigate the tax code and documentation. If you are a retiree with an RV and a winter home in the States, that is quite an expensive snowbird migration.

Now, this may sound like a kind of “Florida problem,” but it’s not just about beaches and golf carts. Here in Montana, Canadian visitors are crucial to our economy. Folks from Alberta and British Columbia head south to ski, shop at Costco, or just make a weekend run across the border.

If those same travelers are convinced it’s not worth nearly a grand in red tape, that’s fewer tourism dollars for Montana’s border towns. Whitefish, Havre, and Kalispell are all areas that depend on Canadian visitors, and they could feel that pinch.

But as Canadians consider the paperwork and taxes, border states like Montana could be stuck holding the snow shovel. The U.S. may take that to be tightening policy, but up here, it might look more like empty hotel rooms and fewer people saying "EH" on the chair lift.