We expected the worst. All initial indications were that this would be a difficult year for snowbirds and, therefore, insurance sales would suffer as a result.

The U.S. and Canada are squabbling like two misbehaving children – the national and international ‘news’ was telling fibs about Canadians being detained at the border and new rules for staying in the U.S. for more than 30 days were, initially, very confusing. And I should also mention the disruption caused by both the Canada Post and Air Canada strikes, as well as the crazy tariffs that are being implemented by both Canada and the United States.

To add insult to injury, the forest fires across Canada had affected our ability to simply breathe. The smoke pollution all across Canada was, on many days, worse than Beijing and other terrible pollution cities and countries. I ended up purchasing a high-volume air cleaner on Amazon and it helped a lot, as long as we kept our windows closed. Canada set many records during this past summer – not many of them good.

One of the very surprising records, at least to me, was our robust Early Bird travel insurance sales. As mentioned, we expected the worst but, in reality, we set new sales records. Approximately 1,000 snowbirds were new to our Early Bird program this year, which is both rewarding and reassuring. It is still too early to break out the champagne, but this is an incredible start to the snowbird season.

Where is the dramatic drop in U.S. travel? Well, when you dig deeper into the statistics, the reduced travel (about 25% less) is almost entirely due to those little cross-border shopping trips and the family vacations to Disneyland and Disney World. And Vegas is in free fall. This obviously has nothing to do with our snowbird community.

I am going South for the winter and now I know that you are going South, too. The price of gasoline is down and air fares are very competitive. It is a great year to be a snowbird and your favourite restaurants, your American friends and your many fun facilities eagerly await your arrival.

P.S.: I have still not been able to confirm even one snowbird who was maltreated, arrested, jailed or even detained.