Majority of Canadians dislike US in face of commerce coverage and sovereignty threats

A majority of Canadians maintain unfavourable views in direction of the US, their closest ally, as frustration over commerce coverage and threats to Canada’s sovereignty persist.

Canada’s rising dislike of its closest buying and selling companion mirrors a shared skepticism in different G7 international locations, in accordance with a brand new ballot that finds that People like their allies excess of these nations approve of the US.

The outcomes come as Canadians preserve boycotts of American items and keep away from journey to the US in response to tariffs imposed by Donald Trump’s administration. However the outcomes of the survey additionally present the problem for Mark Carney because the Canadian prime minister seeks to ease tensions between the 2 economically entwined nations.

In accordance with the newly launched research from the Pew Analysis Middle, a majority of People see the opposite G7 international locations favourably. Greater than seven in 10 have optimistic views of Japan (77%), Canada (74%), Italy (74%) and the UK (70%).

These finds come as leaders from these nations put together to satisfy within the Canadian province of Alberta later this week for the G7 summit.

However these emotions of goodwill are usually not reciprocated.

Populations in all the G7 international locations maintain extra skeptical views in direction of the US, with the biggest lower in favorability towards the US amongst G7 international locations coming from Canada. Just one-third of Canadians (34%) assume positively of their southern neighbour at the moment, in contrast with 54% final yr.

Sixty-four p.c of Canadians now maintain unfavourable views of the US, and practically 40% say they maintain very unfavourable views of their neighbour, up from 15% who felt that means final yr.

Canadian wariness in direction of the US can also be mirrored in new journey knowledge from Statistics Canada, which discovered return journeys by air fell practically 25% in Might 2025 in contrast with the identical month in 2024. Canadian-resident return journeys by car dropped by practically 40% – the fifth consecutive month of year-over-year declines.

Carney crafted his profitable federal election marketing campaign round a patriotic defiance towards the US president’s threats to the nation’s sovereignty. Carney additionally used his first post-election press convention to as soon as once more quash any thought Canada was excited about changing into the 51st US state, a proposal repeatedly floated by Trump.

A optimistic assembly between the 2 leaders on the White Home in Might buoyed hopes amongst enterprise leaders and diplomats the pair may break the deadlock over tariffs. These fears have been dashed after Trump doubled tariffs on Canadian metal and aluminum.

Earlier this week, Carney introduced Canada would spend way more on its defence finances – a key ask of Trump – whereas on the similar time underscoring his authorities’s pledge to scale back reliance on the US.

“We stood shoulder to shoulder with the People all through the chilly warfare and within the many years that adopted, as the US performed a dominant function on the world stage,” he mentioned. “As we speak, that dominance is a factor of the previous.”