Canadian Snowbirds Ready To Come Back To The US

Instead of spending last winter sunning at Siesta Beach or sipping a drink at a downtown rooftop bar, many Canadian snowbirds stayed home, waiting out the pandemic.

But after a year of hibernation, more snowbirds are planning to return to Florida in 2021 — it's a just a matter of figuring out the best way to get here. 

As snowbird season approaches once again, the U.S./Canada border remains closed to non-essential travel. But Canadians are coming anyway. Many say they will fly down if they can't drive their car across the border, and several plan to have their cars shipped from Canada for the season.

Wallace Weylie, legal counsel for the Canadian Snowbird Association, said there seems to be a lot of pent-up demand from regular snowbirds to return to a warmer climate. 

"The sentiment is that they're not going to spend another winter in Canada," he said. 

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In preparation for the fact that the border will likely remain closed, many snowbirds are making arrangements to fly to the U.S. and have their cars shipped here, Fine said.

Some, like those with RVs, are having their vehicles shipped to a border city and flying in there, but others are flying straight to Florida and meeting up with their cars here as well, he said. 

However, not everyone can afford to do that. "Those who can afford to fly and have their vehicle cross the border, that's a considerable cost, $2,000 to $2,500 to have that happen," Weylie said. "People who just can't afford that, that's going to deter them from coming." 

View the full article from the Sarasota Herald-Tribune here.