Declining loonie constrains travellers

March Break is around the corner, but many Canadians (42%) aren’t making any travel plans.

That’s due to the recent drop in the Canadian dollar, says a BMO Insurance study, which adds the loonie’s fallen more than 10% when compared to currencies such as the U.S. dollar and euro over the last year.

Still, most people (72%) say they will travel a little this year, though more than half (61%) will vacation within Canada.

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Nearly half (44%) of those polled mentioned they’d look for medical insurance before travelling, adds the study. Globetrotters were more worried about bad weather (55%) and losing valuable items (47%), however.

Julie Barker-Merz, vice president and COO of BMO Insurance, says medical insurance should be a top priority, though, since the costs of services abroad can be daunting. A broken leg in the U.S. costs up to US$20,000, for example, while treatment for decompression sickness in destinations such as Thailand can cost up to US$40,000.

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The top reasons people don’t look for insurance are: they already have workplace coverage (36%), they don’t travel much (26%) and it’s costly (25%).

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