The Impact of Trump: Shifting Canadian Perspectives and Relations

In the year since US President Donald Trump was inaugurated for his second term, he has brought with him significant global shifts.

Like many countries, Canada - America's closest neighbour to the north - has felt the impact and seen a change in the long-standing relationship with its close security ally and trading partner.

Trump has imposed tariffs on several key Canadian sectors and has warned of more to come. He has also referred to Canada as the 51st state — a jab that has been met with a mix of anxiety and an uncharacteristically fierce display of patriotism.

He has had an effect not just on how Canadians shop and travel, but on the country's domestic politics and world view.

Here are five ways Trump has had an impact on Canada.

While the relationship between the two countries has had its ups and downs, many Canadians shop, travel and even work in the US, and have family ties to the country.

But the past 12 months has seen a change in Canadians' overall attitudes towards the US, if not towards Americans themselves.

Polling conducted by the Pew Research Center last spring indicated that 64% of Canadians held a negative view of the US in 2025 — the highest ever recorded in more than two decades of polling by Pew.

This is a reversal from how they felt before the second Trump administration, when the majority said they held a favourable view of their neighbour.

The survey suggested an even larger percentage of Canadians, around 77%, lack confidence in Trump as a president. Nine-in-10 respondents described him as arrogant, and three-quarters said they believe he is dangerous.

A separate Angus Reid poll from October suggests that nearly half of Canadians (46%) want their government to approach the US as an enemy or potential threat.

This is higher than for India (24%) or China (34%). Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has sought to improve the relationship with both of those countries after years of tensions related, among other issues, to allegations of foreign interference.

The US has long been the number one travel destination for Canadians — an unsurprising statistic given the proximity of two countries.

While it remains a top destination, the number of Canadians making trips south has dropped by more than 25%, according to the latest data by Statistics Canada.

That decline has been noticed by the American tourism industry, which forecast a loss of $5.7bn (£4.3bn) in tourism spending in 2025 compared to the previous year.

Some jurisdictions, like California, have even run advertisements to try to entice Canadians back.

But many have opted to vacation at home, with the domestic tourism sector reporting a record-breaking C$59bn ($42bn) in revenues from May to August, up 6% from the same period last year, according to Destination Canada, a national tourism organisation.

The boycott has extended to store shelves, with more Canadians now choosing local products in the face of US tariffs.

Nowhere is this more significant than in liquor stores, where American alcohol was pulled from shelves by most provinces in retaliation against Trump's levies.

In Canada, the value of US liquor imports dropped from $63.1bn in late 2024 to just over $9.5bn in late 2025.

Before Trump's second term, Canada's governing Liberal Party appeared headed towards a potentially historic collapse.

Polls at the time consistently showed the opposition Conservatives leading by a wide margin. Then the political script in Canada flipped.

In late April's election, Carney achieved what was unthinkable just a few months prior: another return to power for the Liberals, with voters giving the party a few seats shy of a majority government.

With the Canada-US trade relationship increasingly unpredictable, Canada is seeking to bolster ties elsewhere, in some cases mending strained ties.

In the past year, Carney has also made trips to the United Arab Emirates and Qatar, as well as a number of European countries, in search for new trade relationships.