63% of Canadians Back Standing Up to Trump Even if It Means Higher Costs and Job Losses: Ipsos

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A willingness to absorb economic pain is rarely an easy political message, yet new Ipsos polling suggests many Canadians are prepared to accept that bargain in the escalating trade confrontation with the United States. Sixty-three per cent said Canada was right to stand firm in negotiations even if the result included higher costs and significant job losses, while only 18 per cent preferred additional compromises to secure an agreement.

The result gives Prime Minister Mark Carney room to maintain a tougher posture toward President Donald Trump, but it also exposes a sharp divide over who can afford that resistance. Younger and lower-income Canadians are notably less enthusiastic than older and wealthier respondents. With new U.S. tariffs already in place and Canadian counter-tariffs due to take effect September 8, public resolve is moving from an abstract principle toward a real test of household budgets, employment and business confidence.

Canadians Were Asked to Accept Real Economic Consequences

The headline result is unusually stark because Ipsos did not frame standing firm as cost-free. Respondents were explicitly asked to weigh resistance against higher tariffs, economic costs and significant Canadian job losses. Even with those consequences spelled out, 63% chose the tougher position. Another 18% said Ottawa should have made more compromises to reach an agreement, 7% selected neither option and 12% said they did not know enough to decide. Ipsos interviewed 1,001 Canadian adults online on August 26 and 27, shortly after the latest breakdown in negotiations. The results were weighted to census parameters, with a credibility interval of plus or minus 3.8 percentage points for the full sample.

That matters because the poll captures attitudes after the dispute moved beyond months of threats and bargaining. Washington imposed a 50% tariff on $27.6 billion of Canadian goods effective August 22, and Ottawa has announced matching countermeasures on the same value of U.S. imports beginning September 8. The Canadian tariffs will range from 15% to 50% depending on the product and are aimed at sectors including steel, dairy, appliances, agricultural equipment, pulp and paper, and electronics. In other words, respondents were not simply endorsing a symbolic show of resolve. They were expressing support while both governments were putting specific, high-value trade barriers into effect.

Younger and Lower-Income Canadians Are Far More Cautious

The national majority conceals one of the poll’s most important findings: support rises sharply with age and financial security. Only 48% of Generation Z respondents backed standing firm, compared with 57% of Millennials and about 80% of Boomers. Income produces a similarly large gap. Among Canadians earning more than $100,000 a year, 76% supported the government’s decision; among those earning less than $40,000, support was 51%. Regionally, backing was strongest in Saskatchewan and Manitoba at 70% and weakest in Quebec at 57%. These are not minor variations around a common view. They suggest that the perceived affordability of a trade confrontation is shaping how Canadians judge the government’s strategy.

For a younger worker carrying rent, food and debt costs, the phrase “economic pain” can mean something more immediate than it does for a household with a paid-down mortgage, secure pension or substantial savings. Ipsos chairman Darrell Bricker described younger Canadians as living in an “endurance economy,” where personal exposure to new costs or job insecurity makes a hard-line position more difficult to sustain. That interpretation is consistent with the poll’s income results: as respondents become more financially secure, support for standing firm increases. The political challenge for Ottawa is therefore not only to maintain national unity, but to keep the burden of retaliation from falling disproportionately on people with the least room to absorb it.

Support Extends Well Beyond Conventional Counter-Tariffs

Canadians are not merely backing the decision to walk away from an unsatisfactory deal; many also support a broad menu of retaliatory measures. Ipsos found 73% support for dollar-for-dollar counter-tariffs on nearly $28 billion of U.S. goods. The same level backed export tariffs on crude oil, natural gas and electricity, while 73% also supported fees on critical minerals such as copper and nickel. Seventy-one per cent supported limiting critical-mineral exports to the United States, 69% supported restricting energy exports, and 66% backed an aggressive tax on U.S. technology giants operating in Canada. Even tighter border inspections designed to slow incoming U.S. goods drew 64% support.

The pattern is revealing because the options vary greatly in how directly they could disrupt integrated supply chains. Energy and critical minerals are not ordinary consumer products; they are inputs used by American manufacturers, utilities and defence-related industries. Yet support remains high for using them as leverage. At the same time, Canadians were more cautious about measures whose domestic consequences may be easier to imagine. Letting the Canadian dollar weaken naturally to make exports more competitive attracted only 45% support, the lowest result among the options tested. That gap suggests retaliation is popular in principle, but voters still distinguish between tools they see as pressure on Washington and policies that could more visibly reduce their own purchasing power.

Canadians Want Ottawa to Protect Workers While Fighting Back

The polling also shows that Canadians want a defensive economic strategy alongside retaliation. Sixty-seven per cent supported creating a major subsidy program similar to those used during the COVID era for workers hurt by U.S. or Canadian tariffs. Support was even higher for several targeted measures: 80% backed giving preference to Canadian-made products in public purchasing and infrastructure, 79% supported helping businesses expand into non-U.S. export markets, and 78% favoured job training or retraining for workers affected by tariffs. Emergency financial aid and extended Employment Insurance for workers who lose jobs because of U.S. tariffs drew 77% support, as did incentives to help manufacturers invest in equipment and improve competitiveness.

That combination makes the public position more nuanced than a simple call to fight back. Canadians appear willing to accept confrontation while also expecting government to cushion the consequences. Ottawa has already announced a $7.5-billion package of new and enhanced measures for workers and businesses, on top of nearly $25 billion in previously announced tariff-related support. The package includes an additional $1.5 billion for regional assistance to small and medium-sized businesses. Ipsos found only 52% personally willing to endure significant economic pain, however, even as 63% said industries and companies in their province should accept pain to help the country. That difference may become politically important if costs become more visible.

Canada’s Reliance on the U.S. Makes the Stakes Especially High

Canada’s exposure to the United States helps explain why the stakes are so high. Statistics Canada reported that 71.7% of Canadian merchandise exports went to the U.S. in 2025, down from 75.9% in 2024. The share of imports coming from the United States also fell, from 62.3% to 58.8%. Diversification is happening: Canadian exports to countries other than the U.S. rose 17.2% in 2025. But the shift does not erase decades of integration in autos, energy, metals, machinery, agriculture and other industries. Even a smaller U.S. share still means that changes at the border can quickly affect orders, production schedules and investment decisions across Canadian communities.

Higher prices are also more than a hypothetical risk. Bank of Canada researchers examining earlier Canadian retaliatory tariffs found that prices of tariffed retail goods rose gradually and peaked about 6% higher after three months, representing roughly one-quarter pass-through of a 25% tariff. The researchers found little spillover to untariffed substitutes and noted that price effects reversed quickly after tariffs were removed, but the study demonstrates a direct route from trade policy to checkout prices. For households already watching food, transportation and housing bills closely, even partial tariff pass-through can make public support more fragile. Standing firm may remain popular, but the durability of that support will depend on how broadly the costs are spread and how long they last.

Carney’s Trade Stance Has Not Hurt Liberal Support So Far

So far, the trade rupture has not produced a major shift in federal voting intentions. In the same Ipsos polling, the Liberals stood at 44% among decided voters and leaners, compared with 33% for the Conservatives. That was almost unchanged from April. Yet the age split in trade attitudes also appears in party preference: Conservatives led among Millennials by 40% to 30%, while Liberals led among Boomers by 53% to 26%. The numbers suggest that Carney’s tougher U.S. stance may fit the preferences of older voters especially well, while younger Canadians remain more open to the opposition’s economic argument.

The government does not have an unlimited mandate, however. Sixty-two per cent said Carney should recall Parliament so MPs can debate and vote on Canada’s response, and that view held a majority across regions and age groups. On the more consequential question of whether Canada should cease further negotiations and stop seeking a new deal, only 49% agreed, while 14% had no opinion. Meanwhile, 37% said Pierre Poilievre and the Conservatives would have done a better job dealing with the United States on trade; that rose to 49% among Millennials and 67% among Conservative voters. Canadians may support resistance, but many still want parliamentary scrutiny and an open path back to negotiations.

The Hardest Test Comes When Economic Pain Becomes Personal

The next test is whether public patience survives contact with the economy. Canada’s unemployment rate was 6.4% in July, while consumer prices were 3.0% higher than a year earlier. Ipsos separately reported that consumer confidence weakened in August, driven by declines in personal financial confidence and views of the broader economy, and noted that its fieldwork was completed before the latest collapse in Canada-U.S. trade talks. The Bank of Canada has also warned that the evolution of the U.S. trade relationship remains a major risk to inflation and growth. Those indicators do not prove the latest tariffs will cause a specific outcome, but they show that the dispute is landing in an economy where households and businesses already have reasons to be cautious.

For Carney, the 63% result is therefore best understood as political breathing room rather than a blank cheque. Canadians have endorsed the principle that some concessions are too costly, even when resistance has a price. They have also backed counter-tariffs, Buy Canadian policies, export diversification and large-scale support for workers. Yet the same polling shows clear limits: younger and lower-income Canadians are less enthusiastic, only about half say they would personally accept significant economic pain, and fewer than half want negotiations ended altogether. If layoffs rise, prices jump or the conflict drags on, today’s broad coalition could narrow. If Canada can diversify trade while cushioning exposed workers, the current support may prove more durable.

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