Canadians continue to ‘keep their elbows up’ after President Trump’s sovereignty threats

For Lisa McBean, buying American-made snacks and traveling to America came naturally. For Ontario residents, this changed starting in early 2025.

Since then, the 54-year-old has started checking to see if products are made in Canada before buying them at the grocery store. McBean canceled multiple trips to the United States for concerts. Cross-border shopping was once common, but not anymore.

The reason is that US President Donald Trump has repeatedly called for Canada to become the 51st US state. His tariffs on the country’s exports added salt to the wound, she said.

“Enough is enough,” McBean told CNBC. “Why must we make you great again at our expense?”

Mr. McBean’s refusal is part of a broader boycott by Canadians outraged by Mr. Trump’s levy and sovereignty claims. A year ago, what was initially an extraordinary surge of Canadian patriotism has evolved into a new social and economic order for this country of 41 million people.

This shift is impacting everything from the brands Canadians buy to where they vacation to how they vote. Policymakers are considering economic impacts on both sides of the border. Polling suggests that the changed behavior won’t change immediately.

“Canadians are remaining resolute,” said Steve Mossop, executive vice president of Montreal-based polling service Leger. “The biggest surprise is that Canadians are adamant not to support the United States in any way.”

Data shows Canadians continue to spend with their “elbows up,” a hockey term that has become a catchphrase for resisting American pressure.

thin ice

Canada will become the United States’ second largest trading partner in 2025, according to a report from the Census Bureau. But economists warn that the old relationship is on thin ice. Excluding the pandemic, Canada’s share of imports from the United States hit an all-time low last year.

“We’ve always seen 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 really suffered last year.”

Canadians began shifting their food purchases away from the United States starting in early 2025, according to a data analysis released by the Bank of Canada last month. Domestic brands gained wallet share as retailers and liquor stores encouraged shoppers to buy Canadian instead.

Central bank researchers called this a structural change in the national economy that was directly caused by rising trade tensions. The changes could affect inflation and the composition of Canada’s gross domestic product (GDP).

Already last year, the Bank of Canada began asking consumers about their purchases of U.S. products and U.S. travel spending in its flagship consumer survey.

According to a January poll of more than 2,600 consumers by Regar, Canada’s largest market research and analysis firm, more than three in five Canadians said they avoid purchasing alcohol and agricultural products from the United States. More than half said they avoid purchasing from U.S.-based retailers and websites.

Leger said most Canadians will continue to avoid U.S. goods and services over the next six months.

rename

At the Great American Back Rub store in Toronto, President Nazir Lalani put up a sign highlighting the chain’s Canadian ownership. Mr. Lalani, who has used the name for a quarter of a century, is considering ending his partnership with the United States.

At the turn of the century, “anything that was American was very popular in Canada. There was a lot of power behind that,” Lalani said. “It’s completely different now.”

Canada’s anger stems from President Trump’s bravado that he can force the country into the United States through “economic power.” President Trump repeatedly referred to Canada’s prime minister as “governor” and imposed tariffs on exports.

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

Prime Minister Mark Carney’s election victory last year was largely seen as a referendum on President Trump’s rhetoric about Canada’s sovereignty. Carney, a former Bank of England governor, gave a speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland in January that was widely interpreted as a condemnation of US policy. That same month, Canada and China reached a preliminary trade agreement.

Most recently, Mr. Carney completed a world tour this week, meeting with international leaders and strengthening trade alliances. he skipped the usa

Goodbye America

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

The number of round-trip air travelers from the United States to Canada fell by almost 18% in the year to January, the Canadian government said. Airlines plan to fly 11% fewer flights from Canada to popular snowbird destinations Arizona and Florida this year, according to flight data from aviation data provider Cirium.

Canadian vehicle traffic from the U.S. was down nearly 27% in January compared to a year earlier. Nathan Janzen, assistant chief economist at the Royal Bank of Canada, said spending data shows Canadians are spending more on domestic travel.

In Las Vegas, caesars and MGM Executives acknowledged on a call with analysts last year that Canadian visitors had declined. The Federal Reserve said in the Beige Book that the decline in tourism hurt sales at some retailers in Maine and North Dakota.

Canadian bookings for U.S. mountain destinations tracked by Inntopia Business Intelligence were down more than 45% in January 2026 compared to the same month last year.

At Jay Peak in northern Vermont, there’s been a notable lack of Canadian field trips that previously helped fill the 3,800-foot mountain and its associated water park, general manager Steve Wright said. Canada’s hockey team skipped the tournament, which was held at the resort’s indoor rink.

At Folk Alliance International’s industry conference in New Orleans in January, about 5% of attendees were Canadians, down from more than 17% in previous years. Several Canadian companies have chosen not to sponsor competitions focused on folk music this year.

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

‘timeout’

According to the National Association of Realtors, Canadians are some of the largest foreign buyers of U.S. real estate. However, according to Redfin, the number of Canadian users viewing U.S. real estate listings in February decreased by nearly 18% compared to the same month last year.

Deborah Marling, an Ontario-based office manager, sold her vacation home in Sarasota, Florida, last year. Since then, she’s been traveling more domestically, vacationing in Costa Rica instead of heading to the American Sunbelt. Marling usually visits her brother in Atlanta in the spring, but this year she expects her brother to head north instead.

“People have always thought of our relationship with the United States as cousins ​​and friendship,” Marling said. “I feel like I’m in ‘time out’ right now.”

Canadians are closely watching the outcome of this year’s renegotiation of the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA). They will monitor the U.S. midterm elections in November to determine whether changes in Congressional leadership could limit Mr. Trump’s power.

Canadians told CNBC their anger is directed at the U.S. federal government, not average Americans. Still, their anger is clear. The share of Canadians with an “unfavorable” view of the United States in 2025 has reached its highest level since Pew Research began asking this question in 2002.

But Canadians have reason to look forward to a return to warmer economic relations. Canadian companies are still exploring the deep financial markets of the United States and trying to tap into its huge consumer market. Canada is the ninth largest economy in the world. America is number one.

“We need each other,” said Chris Agro, 46, a Canadian who works in manufacturing. “We’re still our closest neighbors. That’s never going to change.”

But some, like Ontario’s McBean, don’t think relations will ever go back to how they were before.

“The damage has already been done,” McBean said. “It’s no longer a boycott. It’s a change. It’s a divorce.”

—CNBC’s Leslie Josephs contributed to this report.