A number of Canadian academic, medical and business organizations have instituted policies prohibiting or restricting travel to the U.S. for professional development. The United States border crossing in Saint-Bernard-de-Lacolle, Que., on April 10.Graham Hughes/The Canadian Press
It’s supposed to be the biggest convention of the year in Vancouver, attracting thousands from the tech world to a first-of-its-kind event here.
Web Summit is aiming for at least 15,000 registrants when it opens May 27, a number organizers are confident they will meet – though in unexpected ways.
Not all conference organizers can be so certain of their attendance figures.
The earthquakes emanating from the U.S. since January – zigzagging changes in tariff policy, viral stories about visiting academics and professionals being grilled or turned back at the border, the gutting of various American agencies and scrutiny of all academic activities – have been destabilizing for almost every sector.
The world of conventions and conferences, which relies on global connectedness and the exchange of ideas and knowledge, has been particularly vulnerable.
Cities across Canada are reporting the convention business going two ways. Some American academic and business organizations are cancelling events in Canada, fearing criticism for spending money outside the U.S., problems with delegates being able to get back into the United States or concerns about tariffs on the products and booths they bring in for shows.
But other events are being rescheduled in Canada after being cancelled in the U.S., as organizers worry that Canadian or other non-U.S. delegates can’t or won’t cross the border.
Organizers of the Web Summit say they are seeing a small but surprising increase in the number of American attendees, as well as a strong contingent of international registrants, which summit founder and chief executive officer Paddy Cosgrave attributes directly to U.S. President Donald Trump’s erratic policies.
“Trump’s mostly ill-conceived tariff war, while headline-grabbing, backfired. In a matter of weeks, his outdated unilateralism accelerated still faster the rest of the world’s rapid embrace of multipolarity,” Mr. Cosgrave said in an e-mailed statement to The Globe and Mail.
“The rest of the world is just moving on. Eager to trade, eager to build partnerships. And that’s I think part of the motivation for so many international trade delegations to come to Canada for Web Summit.”
Organizers say the Vancouver summit will have slightly more delegates than the recent Collision Conference in Toronto. Web Summit hosts events around the world – Rio de Janeiro and Doha recently, Lisbon next year.
The Vancouver event is expected to hit its attendance goal easily – good news among what convention organizers say is an atmosphere of complete unpredictability.
“Uncertainty is the key word these days,” said Virginie De Visscher, the executive director of business events for Destination Canada.
“For events in 2025, the momentum in Canada has softened slightly for domestic and other international events.”
Still, U.S. attendance remains surprisingly steady, she said.
Montreal convention organizers say they’ve seen more than half a dozen events rescheduled to their city from the U.S., with Toronto reporting a similar trend.
“As global policy changes continue to be unpredictable, we have seen a number of meetings shift their focus to Toronto,” said Susan Richardson, vice-president of sales at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre, by e-mail. “Meeting organizers are increasingly looking for world-class meeting destinations that are inclusive and easily accessible. Toronto checks all those boxes.”
A number of Canadian academic, medical and business organizations have instituted policies prohibiting or restricting travel to the U.S. for professional development.
In Vancouver, for example, Providence Health Care, which operates 18 facilities including major hospitals such as St. Paul’s and St. Joseph’s, has a policy discouraging travel to the United States.
“There has been general all-staff messaging to minimize travel to the U.S.,” said Providence spokesperson Shaf Hussein. “Any conferences would not be covered.”
Travel is particularly difficult in the health care sector, where many potential delegates in both the U.S. and Canada are international students or residents who fear they’ll have trouble at the U.S. border.
Last week, FIFA, the world governing body for soccer, announced it would hold its annual congress in Vancouver, in advance of the 2026 World Cup. The tournament will be held in Vancouver and Toronto, as well as three Mexican and 11 American cities. FIFA declined to say whether current U.S. policies were a factor in deciding to meet in Vancouver.
The Vancouver Convention Centre recently had four groups express interest in coming to Vancouver for their 2026, 2027 or 2028 meetings, rather than the U.S., said Claire Smith, the centre’s vice-president for sales and marketing. “They decided Canada was a more inviting country at the moment.”
But the centre lost out on hopes it had for eight other American groups, each expecting a thousand attendees or more.
“We haven’t had cancellations but we’ve seen lost opportunities,” Ms. Smith said.
The eight, all corporate or technology groups, were concerned about possibly being charged tariffs on the goods they would bring to the show and simply figured it would be cheaper to stay close to home.
Royce Chwin, the CEO of tourism organization Destination Vancouver, said one major Vancouver hotel told him it had lost five American academic conventions.
“Attendees were concerned about getting visas and they were concerned about blowback for taking business to Canada,” he said.
But those who work with or report on conventions and conferences say Canada could still end up benefitting in the long run.
“There is a tremendous opportunity there for Canada,” said Miguel Neves, the editor-in-chief at Skift Meetings, which focuses on covering the world of international conventions.
He expects U.S. business groups will choose to stay home. But European and Asian organizations, or even American ones with a large number of Canadian members, may be more likely to see Canada as an attractive destination.
For the U.S., a major concern in the next few years may be a silent boycott by Chinese exhibitors and delegates, Mr. Neves said.
Heather Dow, a senior manager at Events & Management Plus Inc.’s Ontario branch, said she expects event organizers hoping to attract Asian participants may opt for Canada.
“I think we’ll see more conferences in Canada but lower numbers. And they’ll choose Vancouver because of the Asian participants.”
For everyone involved in the convention sector, the current situation, which seems to be pulling people and countries apart instead of bringing them together, is a sad and disturbing one.
“People are in mourning,” Ms. Dow said. “It’s like the pandemic all over again.”