August 4, 2026

A bit like Christmas, summer comes but once a year. Busy people scramble to get their vacation times organized and especially, to have time with family and friends. And, what better place to celebrate summer than by the water! For the most part, the weather seems to be cooperating, although extreme heat at times has brought serious wildfires. The environment and global warming still needs to be part of serious global action.

But, it looks as though Canadians are still moving ahead on summer vacations, and some had plans for a new boat. I have a feeling that the recent economic climate of uncertainty probably held some dealers back from ordering a lot of inventory (and I would have been in that camp) but I’ve recently spoken to two dealers who are sold out and hoping to get more boats quickly to capitalize on the demand they are finding. Operating in a climate of uncertainty looks to me to be the new normal.

Another round of tariffs have been announced globally, and special tariffs are coming to hit Canada hard. Sadly, some people will lose their jobs as impacted companies cut back, or cut down. I think this was a big part of the Project 2025 plan all along. More grief may be coming soon.

A comment made by a news journalist in a recent CNN interview, made an important point. Essentially it was that regardless of what happens this year in the American midterms or in 2028, whoever or whatever party is running the United States in the coming years, the American tax cuts, and their ballooning expenditures from the war in the Middle East and other things, future administrations may not be able to cancel the tariffs and forgo the revenue. It’s an interesting perspective and something we need to bear in mind. Tariffs are a form of taxes. When did you last see a government take off a tax?

We may never go back to the trading relationship we had with the United States. I hope that the Canadian government and all our Canadian industries are moving quickly to realign their business activities and generate new markets.

In the meantime, we’re at the halfway point of summer 2026 and holiday times with family and friends should certainly be uppermost in our minds.

In this edition of Boating Industry Canada News Week Digest, we again bring you a “Free to Use” piece of editorial content that you can copy and paste out of this newsletter for your own customer communications. The topic is “Boating with Children” and it contains many excellent suggestions about how to have fun safely, and in a way that helps your children and grandchildren, to learn more about boats and boating.

Whatever happens to our international trading relationships, as a sovereign nation, Canada will always be blessed with some of the most beautiful boating in the world. We need to plan to enjoy it!

Here’s wishing you an outstanding second half of Summer 2026 and a reminder that some of the year’s best boating is still ahead.

Andy Adams, Editor