2025: the year we rediscover rural Ontario
Herbert, my office mate in Illinois, is fired up over a family trip he’s planning to Ontario this upcoming summer.
Originally from Mexico, he’s never been to Canada, and he’s awestruck at the online images he sees of the country… not to mention how much bang he’ll get here for his American dollar.
The big question he’s facing is the kind of reception he and the other 13 million Americans who visit Canada annually will receive at the border.
Sure, they can expect friendly Canadians once they clear customs. But before that, getting waved through security could be tougher than ever.
We know U.S. President-elect Donald Trump is unimpressed and upset with current border protection. Shortly after winning the election in November, Trump started raving about illegal drugs coming into the U.S. from Canada, and threatened to punish us with major tariffs if we don’t do better.
No one blames the U.S. for having tight border controls. The country has lived through the unimaginable horror of a terrorist attack that will colour security measures forever. So, of course, the land of the free is on guard and suspicious of many.
But suspicion has turned into fear and the intensity is off the charts. PM Justin Trudeau is taking Trump’s threats seriously, assuring the president-elect we’ll cooperate on better border security.
That will affect folks like Herbert coming into Canada, as well as Canadians heading the other way. And that opens the door for homegrown alternatives.
For example, in the New Year, you’ll hear more about the allure of domestic travel, especially agritourism.
In early December, Agritourism Ontario, an association dedicated to supporting farmers in agritourism and advocating for the sector, announced it received close to $350,000 from the provincial government to get more aggressive in promoting farm and food-related travel in our home province.
The money will be used to create a new and better app for connecting visitors and farms. As well, it will pay for an economic growth study to give a detailed and accurate analysis of agritourism’s strongholds and its potential for growth.
And finally, it will fund a marketing strategy and farm visit awareness campaign, as well as professional development workshops, webinars and events for Agritourism Ontario’s 300-ish members.
Agritourism in this province isn’t starting from scratch. As an advocacy group, Agritourism Ontario has existed since 1973, previously as the Ontario Farm Fresh Marketing Association.
The sector’s pioneers had to work hard to convince prospective visitors that a drive out to the country was worth it. That’s hardly the case now. The virtues of irresistible farmers’ markets and a weekend or more exploring rural Ontario hotspots like Creemore and beyond, are much better understood.
I still think we’ll see Herbert in Ontario next summer. But I also think we’ll see a lot more Ontarians sticking around, rediscovering their own province.
The timing is excellent for an Ontario agritourism campaign.
Owen Roberts is an agricultural journalist from Guelph and a communications instructor at the University of Illinois. He regularly visits family in Creemore.
