Shortly after the announcement that pre-orders for the Nintendo Switch 2 would be delayed in the United States, Nintendo added that a similar delay will happen in Canada. Following the full reveal of the Switch 2 on April 2, emerging economic factors in the U.S. prompted Nintendo to delay pre-orders in the region to a currently unspecified date — unfortunately, this delay seems to have carried over to Canada as well.

The full statement provided to ScreenRant by Nintendo of Canada is as follows:

Pre-orders for Nintendo Switch 2 in Canada will not start on April 9, 2025 in order to align with the timing of pre-orders to be determined in the U.S. Nintendo will provide updated information at a later date. The launch date of June 5, 2025 is unchanged.

The announcement from Nintendo of Canada comes just one day before pre-orders were set to open in Canada and implies that the new pre-order dates to be determined for the U.S. and Canada will match. Currently, no updated pre-order date has been provided for either region, and the console's full release date of June 5 has not been changed. Additionally, it's currently unknown if economic factors will affect the pricing of the Switch 2 in either region, currently $449.99 USD and $629.99 CAD.

Why Switch 2 Pre-Orders Are Delayed

Pre-Orders Have Been Delayed As A Result Of U.S. Tariffs

The official reasoning for the pre-order delay in Canada, as provided by Nintendo, is to match the date that is still to be decided for the U.S., where the Switch 2 pre-order delays result from concerns about tariffs imposed by U.S. President Donald Trump. The delay of pre-orders in Canada, therefore, is also a consequence of the tariffs, and any further changes to the U.S. pre-order date or pricing for the Switch 2 could similarly be reflected in Canada as well.

While no other official reasoning for the delay of Canadian pre-orders has been provided by Nintendo, pre-orders for the U.S. and Canada may be tied together as a result of using the U.S. as a distribution center to ship units to Canada. Another point of speculation is that, by aligning the pre-order dates for both regions, U.S. buyers won't be encouraged to cross over and buy units meant for distribution in Canada to by the delay in their own region.

The Switch 2 Launch Could Be A Mess

Economic Factors Might Ruin The Switch 2's Launch In June

Of course, the pre-order delay in Canada is just the latest of many controversies affecting the launch of the Switch 2, some of which don't fully fall on Nintendo. The pricing of the Switch 2 and its exclusives, for example, has drawn a significant amount of backlash from potential buyers, most notably for the $80 price tag of Mario Kart World. The perception of the pricing hasn't been helped with controversial moves like charging $10 for the Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour, which is commonly argued as something that should be a free pack-in title like Wii Sports.

So far, Nintendo has justified the high pricing of the Switch 2 and its games by citing external economic factors like rising inflation, but the fact remains that rising costs may price potential buyers out of purchasing the system — especially if it's facing a price hike as a result of continued tariffs. From looking like a practically guaranteed success, the Nintendo Switch 2 may now be facing a particularly troubled global launch as economic factors continue to impact pricing.

Source: Nintendo of Canada