Canadian Shopping Is Off

Canadians are making fewer day trips to the United States, indicating that crossborder shopping may be falling sharply.

Canadian residents took three million same-day trips across the border in June, the smallest number since June 1988, the government statistical agency reported Friday. That was down 1.4 per cent from May.

Cross-border shopping accelerated during the recession but has been steadily dropping since early 1992.

Analysts say that reflects the greenback’s nearly 15 percent rise in value against the Canadian dollar in the past 2 years, making U.S.-bought goods more expensive for Canadians.