An economic war with our biggest trading partner has many Canadians fearful, but according to a new Angus Reid poll, a strong majority stand behind the federal government’s decision to walk away from talks with the United States.
The crumbling trade relationship with President Donald Trump’s government continued to escalate on Monday, with new threats lobbed from both sides of the border.
According to the poll, however, Canadians think abandoning the talks was still a better option than signing a bad deal.
Seventy-six per cent believe Canada did the right thing and that support is seen in all provinces at varying levels.
The poll found that support for Ottawa’s stance “is at majority levels in every province in the country, bottoming out at 65 per cent in Saskatchewan and 67 per cent in Alberta.”
“There is also more agreement than one typically finds across the political spectrum. Half (53 per cent) of those who voted Conservative in the 2025 federal election say it was “right” to walk away rather than accept a bad deal,” Angus Reid wrote.
Canadians support counter-tariffs
Prime Minister Mark Carney’s vow to hit the U.S. back with dollar-for-dollar tariffs is also popular, with three-in-five (62 per cent) calling the counter-tariffs “about right under the circumstances”.
Despite widespread support for how Canada has handled the precarious trade situation, there is still a mounting anxiety over the fallout, with 13 per cent of Canadian workers saying they are “very” concerned about losing their jobs. Twenty-five per cent expressed some level of anxiety over job security.
“That said, most (64 per cent) do believe the country will emerge from this challenging time stronger as Canada reduces its dependence on the United States,” the non-profit pollster notes.
“One-quarter (26 per cent) disagree and worry it will be difficult to overcome the damage to the relationship with Canada’s most important trading partner.”
CityNews asked several people outside of Toronto’s Union Station how they felt about the issue.
“We should not bow down to Trump’s bullying we should stay strong and we should stand against him to say it’s not right what he’s doing,” one said.
“Well I think we did the right thing,” another man remarked. “I actually think it’s very sad that it crumbled but it’s typical of the person you are dealing with in Washington, who you can’t trust from (one) day to the next, so it’s more of the same.”
One woman told CityNews she would even accept higher prices on local products.
“I’d rather pay more for something Canadian than give my money to someone south of the border.”
Methodology: The Angus Reid Institute conducted an online survey from Aug. 22–23, 2026, among a randomized sample of 1,468 Canadian adults. For comparison purposes only, a probability sample of this size would carry a margin of error of +/– 2 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.
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