US looks at extending season on snowbirds

Canadian residents who spend months living south of the border may soon be able to spend even more time in the United States of America (US), says a Canadian Saulite-turned snowbird.

Paul Breton, with his wife Suzan, live almost half of the year in their winter home in Florida since retiring in 2010, while spending summers in the Sault.

“The warmer weather brought us down to start with,” said Breton by phone from Sarasota on Friday, while pointing out the 23-degree Celsius weather.

Canadians who spend more than their allotted time in the United States could face stiff penalties, including fines and being barred from entry for up to five years.

"Under current policy, eligible Canadian citizens may spend up to six months less a day, in the United States, in any 12-month period," said the Canadian Snowbird Association (CSA).

What many travellers don’t know is that any time spent in the United States counts toward those 180 days, even day trips to Michigan when snowbirds are back for the summer.

“A lot of Americans, when they hear about Canadians who have to return after that 180 days they just don’t know the American law. They just shake their heads and say ‘stay all you want.’ They don’t know it is a very serious offence.” Said Breton.

Being aware of the limitation, Breton and his wife typically spend just 160 days in Florida, allowing them up to 20 days to spend on day trips across the border when they return to the Sault.

“Americans want us here and they need the money in their economy,” he said.

There may be some hope, as CSA has been lobbying the US government to increase the days Canadians can stay in their country from 180 to 240.

Should the US government extend the eligibility to 240 days, it will allow travellers like the Bretons a lot more leeway when it comes to their visits across the border.

“That would allow us to come down in the first week of October instead of November first and allow us to come back in the summertime for two to three weeks to enjoy the southern states,” he said.

The Bretons began vacationing in Sarasota while their children were still in high school. Now that the couple have retired they spend almost half the year in their Florida vacation home.

“There was a time we said that ‘we’ve had enough of the cold weather, we want the warmer weather,’” he said.

In their Sarasota winter community, 40-percent of the population are Canadian.

“We raised our children in Sault Ste. Marie, still love Sault Ste. Marie. It’s just in the wintertime we have the opportunity to go south and we are taking advantage of it while we can,” he said.