Canadian border traffic into Washington State up
Posted Nov 4, 2011 07:45:48 AM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – It seems we just can’t resist those cross-border deals.
Canadians crossed into Washington State in greater numbers this year than in 2010. The increase into Whatcom Country alone was 16.2 per cent, according to numbers compiled by Western Washington University.
A total of 1.4 million Canadians crossed into Whatcom County in August. The figures include the Huntingdon, Aldergrove, and the two Blaine crossings; but not Point Roberts.
Hart Hodges is the director of the school’s Center for Economic and Business Research. He tells us the spike was rather expected.
“With the stronger Canadian dollar and improved infrastructure and more lanes are open, especially at the Peace Arch, and maybe some ripple effects from the Harmonized Sales Tax and frustration from Canadian shoppers.”
He figures even with the addition of sales tax in Washington State, Canadians are still paying less for goods in the States than they would here at home.
“When you look at certain products, whether it’s dairy or some small electronics… there are stores that have lower prices or products that are just a good bit cheaper. [For those items,] I don’t think a few percentages on sales taxes is going to drive shoppers one way or another,” Hodges explains.
Still, traffic is still down from pre-9/11 levels and even further down from the kind of numbers seen in the early 1990s.
