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"Both of our administrations had agreed to postpone the visit. Both sides are going to be working together to set a new date," Chretien said after landing in the Dominican Republic, according to his spokeswoman Frederique Tsai.
The two leaders will try to reschedule for autumn, Tsai said in Ottawa.
"It's because President Bush needs to focus on the situation in Iraq," she said.
A report in the National Post newspaper Saturday said Bush had postponed the trip because of Canada's stance on the US-led war in Iraq and fierce anti-US criticism from Canadian government officials.
"That's absolutely not the reason," Tsai said, stressing that it was only due to the war.
On Saturday, Chretien officials had said they would not be surprised if he cancelled the trip given the war situation.
Canada received a rebuke from Washington last month for refusing to support the US-led war against Iraq. Ottawa said it would only participate in military intervention if it was approved by the United Nations.
US Ambassador Paul Cellucci in a speech here criticized Ottawa for not supporting the United States as well as allowing anti-US comments from within the Chretien government.
Recently, antiwar Liberal MP Carolyn Parrish called Americans "bastards" and Natural Resources Minister Herb Dhaliwal said Bush had failed as a statesman. And in November, a Chretien spokeswoman had to resign after calling Bush a "moron."
Questioned Friday about the possibility that Bush might cancel his trip Chretien said if the US president were unable to come to Ottawa next month, "we will invite him again."
Some political pundits have suggested the growing rift between Canada and the United States might hurt their trading relationship. Some 1.3 billion dollars (894 million US dollars) in goods is traded daily across their shared 8,900-kilometer (5,500-mile) border.
Chretien had himself cancelled a trip to Washington to receive an award in late March, and his spokesman Jim Munson on Saturday downplayed reports of seriously strained relations.
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