Canadian Musicians Are Rethinking the US Tour

For decades, the career path for a Canadian musician had one obvious next step: go south. Sign with a U.S. label, book a U.S. agent, tour every college town between Seattle and Miami. That map is getting redrawn, and the reasons go well beyond the cost of a work visa.

A big Globe and Mail report this week laid out the pressure points. U.S. visa applications for musicians and their crews can now cost upward of $10,000, fuel costs are surging, and the labels that once backed Canadian acts are increasingly owned or run from the United States.

Are Canadian musicians really touring the U.S. less?

The numbers say yes. The Canadian Federation of Musicians, which helps artists process U.S. visa applications, told the Globe that applications fell 26% between January 2025 and June 2026 compared with similar periods before. Executive director Liana White said only part of that drop is likely tied to President Donald Trump's policies. The rising expense and hassle of the visas themselves was the bigger concern, with standard processing now taking six months or more.

That pushes artists toward paying for faster processing, a fee the union has tracked going up again this year. Add withholding taxes, possible tariffs on imported merch and a tank of diesel, and the math for a mid-sized act gets ugly fast.

"How much more can we extract at our shows?" Grant Paley, co-founder of Midnight Agency, asked the Globe.

Why are some artists skipping the U.S. entirely?

For some, it is about safety rather than money. Daniel Monkman, the Brokenhead Ojibway Nation musician who performs as Zoon, cancelled a string of U.S. shows after weighing the recent conduct of Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers, the Globe reported. Monkman said they had been detained twice crossing back into Canada in recent years. "A lot was riding on this tour," Monkman said, adding that the situation is "affecting me so much mentally."

Others have made similar calls. Montreal musician Bells Larsen, who is trans, cancelled American shows after U.S. immigration officials said they would only recognize a person's sex at birth. Toronto band the Rural Alberta Advantage cancelled a show in Minneapolis last winter during a period of protests over immigration enforcement. The Canadian Independent Music Association pulled its official SXSW event soon after Trump's inauguration, and head Andrew Cash told the Globe, "It was the right thing to do then and it's the right thing to still do."

Who actually owns Canadian music now?

This is where the story gets bigger than one tour. In May 2025, U.S.-based Create Music Group bought Monstercat, the electronic label founded in Waterloo in 2011 with staff in Vancouver, Toronto and Los Angeles, according to Music Week. Monstercat continues to operate independently under its existing leadership.

Then, in February, Create put $300 million into Vancouver's Nettwerk Music Group as part of a management buyout. Nettwerk CEO Terry McBride told Business in Vancouver his team would own about 80% of the company and that Create would not get equity, calling it a "classic distribution deal." The Globe describes it as Create taking a stake in Nettwerk's revenues.

Jonathan Simkin, president of Vancouver's 604 Records, said 604 has also received a couple of acquisition offers from the U.S. "People in the business are very freaked out" about U.S.-led consolidation, he told the Globe. His worry is that few Canadian companies can afford to be the buyer. "Canadian culture resides largely in the independent scene," Simkin said.

Are the major labels pulling back too?

They are shrinking their Canadian footprint. Warner Music Canada laid off at least 24 people in November 2025, which Billboard Canada estimated at 12% to 13% of its Canadian workforce. Universal Music Canada cut more than 12 roles in September across marketing, A&R and communications, Billboard Canada reported. Warner Music Canada is now overseen by executive Eric Wong from New York, according to the Globe.

Fewer people in Toronto making signing decisions means fewer people whose job is to care about the next Canadian breakout.

So what is the alternative to the U.S.?

Home, for starters, though it is no bargain. Live shows and merch can make up more than 75% of an artist's annual income, according to the Canadian Live Music Association, as cited by The Canadian Press. Four-time Juno winner Aysanabee said he fronted more than $80,000 of his own money for a recent cross-country tour. "In the U.S. or Europe, you can drive an hour or two to the next city," he said. "In Canada, you have to drive for an entire day, sometimes two days, to the next gig."

There is some support. FACTOR launched a $2 million program this spring to help Canadian promoters and festivals book homegrown acts even when ticket sales are uncertain, CP reported. And the U.S. chill may send traffic north. André Guérette of Paquin Entertainment Group told the Globe he has seen artists from outside North America add small and medium Canadian markets to their tours as they route around the U.S. "I think there is a great opportunity for the Canadian live music industry, and Canadian promoters," he said.

That is the real shift. For a generation of Canadian artists, independence used to mean not needing a major label. Now it might mean not needing America, and building a career in Canada, Europe and online first. Whether that is a retreat or a reinvention depends on who is still standing when the border math improves.