‘Unfair and stupid’: Canadians react to Florida’s plan to place property tax burden on them
It’s already been reported that fewer Canadians are travelling to Florida, and the latest proposal from its governor could see even fewer people making the trip south.
Voters in the Sunshine State will decide Nov. 3 whether to approve Amendment 3, a measure that would give qualifying homeowners a much bigger break on their property taxes. If it passes with at least 60 per cent of the vote, it would take effect Jan. 1, 2027.
For Canadians who own a vacation or second home in Florida — and there are many who do — the plan comes with a catch: the biggest tax break would go to permanent Florida residents, while northern neighbours would be left footing the bill.
Despite the ongoing political turmoil with the U.S., Canadians are Florida’s biggest international tourism market and are the top foreign buyers of Florida real estate, owning an estimated $60 billion worth of residential property, according to Consul General of Canada in Miami, Sylvia Cesaratto. That translates to more than $600 million in property taxes paid by Canadians each year.
Governor of Florida Ron DeSantis is now pushing to eliminate property taxes for Floridians, arguing that homeowners shouldn’t have to keep paying the government simply for owning their own property.
And he’s been very clear about who would still be paying.
“We are focusing on the homestead,” DeSantis told Fox News back in June. “Obviously they tax property that are non-homestead: Residential, Airbnb, Canadian snowbirds, commercial.”
At a press conference, he put it more bluntly: “I want Canadian tourists and Brazilian tourists subsidizing the state and making it so Florida residents pay less taxes. I don’t want to give Canadians a tax cut.”
This proposal is the latest chapter in the governor’s long-running campaign to slash, and eventually eliminate, property taxes on primary residences.
Now, Canadians are sounding off on DeSantis’ “lame” plan online.
“The belief making everybody else but you pay for things has pretty much been the cornerstone of GOP tax policy since Reagan. This is just the metastasized consequence of that,” writes one user on Reddit.
“This is a chance to cut services AND blame Canadians for it,” writes a user. “It astounds me how dumb this proposal is,” says another.
“If you’re dumb enough to continue to go down there as a Canadian then that’s on you. You can spend your money elsewhere,” another Reddit user weighs in.
Meanwhile, others were already looking toward Europe as a potential snowbird replacement, since Canada was invited to become the European Union’s first-ever “associate member” in September.
“If travel to the EU becomes easier, southern Portugal and Spain will benefit greatly from Canadian snowbirds in the coming years,” a Reddit user writes.
Sarcasm is plentiful on the social media platform, with users dropping comments like: “An excellent strategy to push the remaining, intransigent, deeply rooted Snowbirds out of your hellhole state.”
Many people are in agreement that not only is this “unfair and stupid to do to Canadians,” but stupid for the state as well, given that it has no state tax, which means that property taxes are even more important.
“Ask Nevada how well alienating Canadians is going for them,” another user writes.
They are, of course, referring to the steep drop in Las Vegas tourism. Las Vegas saw just under 1.2 million Canadian tourists in 2025. That is a 17.4 per cent drop when compared to 2024’s 1.4 million, according to the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority.
In order to win back its most important international market, certain hotels and casinos started treating Canadian dollars at par with U.S. dollars. No word yet on whether this has increased tourism in 2026. It’s a pretty nice olive branch, but it goes to show you how much Nevada stands to lose when Canadians stay home.
Basically, Nevada — much like Minneapolis last week — is saying: please come back, we miss you. Florida, meanwhile, is essentially saying: screw you, pay me.
And the response from Canadians is simple: if you want our money, don’t make us pay more to spend it.