After Trump’s sovereignty threats, Canadians keep ‘elbows up’

For Lisa Mcbean, buying American-made snacks and traveling to the USA was second nature. This changes for Ontario residents starting in early 2025.

Since then, the 54-year-old has been checking to see if items are made in Canada before buying them at the grocery store. Mcbean canceled several planned trips to the United States for concerts. Cross-border trips to shop are no longer on the agenda once upon a time.

The reason was US President Donald Trump’s repeated calls for Canada to become the 51st state of the USA. He said tariffs on the country’s exports were adding salt to the wound.

“Enough is enough,” Mcbean told CNBC. “Why do we have to make you great again at our expense?”

Mcbean’s rejection is part of a broader boycott by Canadians angry about Trump’s taxes and sovereignty claims. Initially an extraordinary rise in Canadian patriotism a year ago has translated into a new social and economic order for the country of 41 million.

This shift has affected everything from the brands Canadians buy to where they vacation to how they vote. There are economic consequences that policymakers on both sides of the border are considering. Surveys suggest that changing behavior won’t change anytime soon.

“Canadians remained committed,” said Steve Mossop, vice president of Leger, a Montreal-based polling service. “The biggest surprise is how determined Canadians are to not support the United States in any way.”

The data shows Canadians continue to spend with their “elbows up,” a hockey term that has become a slogan for resistance to American oppression.

thin ice

Canada becomes the United States’ second largest trading partner in 2025. Census Bureau reported. But economists warn that the old relationship is skating on thin ice. Excluding the pandemic, the percentage of Canada’s imports from the United States reached record lows last year.

“We’ve always viewed the United States as a very strong and reliable ally,” said Michael Devereux, an economics professor at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver. “That’s really weakened in the last year.”

Canadians begin shifting their food purchases away from the United States starting in early 2025. data analysis A report published last month by the Bank of Canada found. Domestic brands gained share of wallet as retailers and liquor stores encouraged customers to buy Canadian products.

Central bank researchers described this as a structural change in the national economy resulting directly from rising trade tensions. They said the transformation could have implications for Canada’s inflation and the structure of its gross domestic product.

Last year, the Bank of Canada began asking consumers about their purchases of American goods and U.S. travel spending in its flagship consumer survey.

More than three in five Canadians said they avoid buying U.S.-made alcohol or products, according to a survey. Survey conducted in January with the participation of more than 2,600 consumers By Leger, Canada’s largest market research and analysis firm. More than half said they try not to buy from U.S.-based retailers or websites.

Leger found that most Canadians say they will continue to avoid American goods and services for the next six months.

name change

At Great American Backrub locations in Toronto, President Nazir Lalani has hung signs highlighting the chain’s Canadian ownership. Lalani, which has been using this name for a quarter of a century, is considering giving up its relationship with the USA.

At the turn of the century, “Anything American was very popular in Canada. There was a lot of power behind it,” Lalani said. “The situation is very different now.”

Canada’s anger stems from Trump’s bravado that the country could be pushed to become part of America through “economic power.” Trump has repeatedly referred to Canada’s prime minister as “the governor” and imposed tariffs on its exports.

“The administration will continue to protect American interests by leveraging America’s economic power,” a White House official said in a written statement to CNBC. More than a fifth of Canada’s economy depends on exports to the United States, and the majority of the population lives within 100 miles of the border, the official said.

Prime Minister Mark Carney’s election victory last year was widely seen as a referendum on Trump’s bluster over Canada’s sovereignty. Carney, former governor of the Bank of England, said: Speech at the World Economic Forum This speech, held in Davos, Switzerland, in January, was widely interpreted as a rebuke of US policy. That same month, Canada and China reached a preliminary trade agreement.

Most recently, Carney wrapped up a global tour this week where he met international leaders and strengthened business alliances. HE skipped the USA

Goodbye America

Residents of the Great White North aren’t just aiming to “buy Canada.” They also say “goodbye America”.

Return journeys from the USA to Canada by air down almost 18% The Canadian government found the year through January. Airlines plan to fly 11% fewer seats from Canada to popular snowbird destinations in Arizona and Florida this year, according to flight data from aviation data provider Cirium.

Canadians’ car crossings from the United States were down nearly 27% year-over-year in January. Canadians are spending more on domestic travel, said Nathan Janzen, deputy chief economist at the Royal Bank of Canada.

in Las Vegas, caesars And MGM executives acknowledged fewer visitors from Canada in calls with analysts last year. Declining tourist traffic has hurt some retailers’ sales Maine And north dakotaThe US Federal Reserve said this in the Beige Book.

Canadian bookings at U.S. mountain destinations tracked by Inntopia Business Intelligence fell more than 45% in January 2026 compared to the same month the previous year.

At Jay Peak in northern Vermont, there is a notable absence of Canadian field trips that previously helped populate the 3,800-foot mountain and its associated water park, general manager Steve Wright said. Canadian hockey teams skipped tournaments held at the facility’s indoor arena.

Canadians made up about 5% of attendees at the Folk Alliance International industry conference in New Orleans in January; this rate was lower than 17% in other years. Many Canadian companies chose not to sponsor the folk music-focused convention this year.

“We completely understand why they chose not to come to the United States,” said Jennifer Roe, executive director of the Kansas City-based nonprofit.

‘time out’

Canadians are some of them largest foreign buyers U.S. real estate, according to the National Association of Realtors. But almost 18% fewer Canadian users viewed U.S. real estate listings in February than in the same month last year, according to Redfin.

Deborah Marling, an Ontario-based office manager, sold her second home in Sarasota, Florida, last year. He has since increased his domestic travel and vacationed in Costa Rica instead of heading to America’s sunbelt. While Marling usually visits her brother in Atlanta each spring, this year she expects him to head north instead.

“People have always thought of the relationship with the United States as a cousin thing or a friendship,” Marling said. “It feels like we’re on a ‘break’ right now.”

Canadians are closely watching the results of this year’s renegotiations for the Canada, United States and Mexico Agreement (or CUSMA). They will be watching the US midterm elections in November to see whether a change in congressional leadership will limit Trump’s power.

The Canucks told CNBC that their anger is aimed at the U.S. federal government, not the average American. Still, their anger is palpable: In 2025, the percentage of Canadians with a “negative” view of the United States reached its highest level since 2025. Pew Research Center He started asking the question in 2002.

Still, Canadians have reason to hope for a return to warmer economic relations. Canadian companies are still seeking out the deep financial markets of the United States and trying to attract its huge consumer market. Canada has the ninth largest economy in the world; America is number 1.

“We need each other,” said Chris Agro, a 46-year-old Canadian who works in manufacturing. “We are still our closest neighbors. That will never change.”

But others, like Ontario’s Mcbean, don’t see the relationship returning to the way it was.

“The damage has already been done,” Mcbean said. “This is no longer a boycott. This is a change. This is a divorce.”

— CNBC’s Leslie Josephs contributed to this report.