With Bonners Ferry just 30 miles from the Canadian border, the relationship with its northern neighbor is important, evidenced by the city declaring a 365-day special occasion honoring Canadians in May 2025. 

However, uncertainty has affected cross-border relations. According to U.S. Customs and Border Patrol, the United States recorded 113.1 million entries into the country in 2024. A year later, that number dropped to 109.8 million, a 2.9% decrease. In Boundary County, which borders Canada, the decline was even more pronounced. 

During the same period, traffic from Canada to the U.S. through Eastport fell 16%, while Porthill, Boundary County’s other entry point, saw an 18% decrease. That amounts to roughly 37,000 fewer Canadians entering the county in just one year. 

In June 2019, Lars Jacobsen bought Jake’s Landing, a store and gas station in Porthill, with high hopes. As the business’s website notes, it is just a hop, skip and a jump from the Canadian border. 

For the first few months after Jacobsen’s acquisition, the store performed well—until March 2020 and the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

After COVID restrictions ended, Jacobsen began seeing growth toward pre-pandemic numbers.

“Biden took off the last restriction on May 11—or maybe May 10—of 2023,” Jacobsen said. “By last year, in 2024, we were finally starting to get back, reaching about 75% of our customers.” 

Tourism, however, has slowed, as many Canadians say they prefer to travel domestically or to other countries amid tariff tensions and talk of a 51st state. For Jacobsen, the change is noticeable, as about 95% of his customers are from north of the border.  

“We’ve had customers that used to come down all the time and now maybe only come down once or twice a month, or once or twice a quarter,” Jacobsen said. “Some of them won’t come down at all.” 

Several businesses across the northern U.S. are trying to recapture Canadian tourism. A BBC article reported that in Kalispell, Montana, home to Glacier National Park, officials are offering a “Canadian Welcome Pass,” which includes deals and discounts at local businesses for those crossing the border. 

“It just breaks our hearts,” Jacobsen said. “We are a family, community-type people. We purchased everything from the previous owners and they had done a great job of instilling a huge community atmosphere. We wanted to and I believe we did, extend that in a wonderful way.” 

Jacobsen said business is currently down about 67% from 2024, which was already down about 25–30% from pre-COVID levels. 

“We thought 2025 was going to be our best year since the first nine months of buying the place,” Jacobsen said. “It all changed with the tariffs and the rhetoric.” 

“These people in Creston are our friends,” Jacobsen said. “They're our neighbors. We've developed relationships with them and we want to continue to be a great source of help and benefit to the things that they could utilize down here, like sending a package domestically.” 

He had a plea for those who have stopped visiting Porthill and his shop. 

“We're missing our customers and we love and care about them,” Jacobsen said. “We wish that we could see them, that they would come down and support us. Maybe they don't want to support this administration, but could you come and support us?”