Three-Quarters (77%) of Canadians Want an Immediate Election to Give Next Government Strong Mandate to Deal With Trump’s Threats

Canadians are split on whether President Trump’s threat of a 25% tariff on Canadian goods entering the US is a bluff to get Canada to act on issues such as border security or defense spending (55%) or not (45%). However, only three in ten (29%) agree that increased tariffs will have little impact on them personally while 71% disagree, acknowledging the potential impact of this economic shock on their own pocketbooks. Men are more likely to see the tariff threat as a bluff (63% vs. 48% women) and to feel increased tariffs will have little impact on them (34% vs. 25% women).

A majority of Canadians want Canada to retaliate in its own right should President Trump institute major tariffs on Canadian goods by adding its own tariffs on American goods entering Canada. Belief that Canada should add tariffs on American goods rises to 91% among those 55+. Canadians are divided as to whether Canada’s tariff response should involve oil and gas: 45% agree with recent comments made by Alberta Premier Danielle Smith that restricting Canadian oil and gas exports cannot be part of the response to Trump’s tariffs (rising to 59% among those 18-34), while 55% overall disagree (rising to 67% among those 55+).


While around two-thirds (67%) of Canadians say they’re confident in Canada’s ability to respond to President Trump’s tariff threats, rising to 75% among those 55+, three-quarters (77%) say we should have an immediate federal election so that Canada has a Prime Minister and government with a strong mandate to deal with the issue. Six in ten (59%) think Prime Minister Justin Trudeau should be leading the response over Canada’s provincial premiers.
These are some of the findings of an Ipsos poll conducted between January 17 and 20, 2025, on behalf of Global News. For this survey, a sample of 1,001 Canadians aged 18+ was interviewed online. Quotas and weighting were employed to ensure that the sample’s composition reflects that of the Canadian population according to census parameters. The precision of Ipsos online polls is measured using a credibility interval. In this case, the poll is accurate to within ± 3.8 percentage points, 19 times out of 20, had all Canadians aged 18+ been polled. The credibility interval will be wider among subsets of the population. All sample surveys and polls may be subject to other sources of error, including, but not limited to coverage error, and measurement error.
For more information on this news release, please contact:
Darrell Bricker, PhD
CEO, Ipsos Global Public Affairs
+1 416 324 2001
[email protected]
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