Despite Americans having an “overwhelming positive” view of Canadians, the same feeling is not reciprocated north of the border, new data from the Angus Reid Institute finds.
Seventy-nine per cent of Americans view Canadians favourably while 48 per cent of Canadians hold an “unfavourable” view of Americans, outweighing the 45 per cent of Canadians who see Americans “positively” despite “widespread detestation” of U.S. President Donald Trump.
“Political friction from the past year and a half has driven Canadian views of President Trump and his administration sharply negative, while boycotts and reduced cross-border travel have prompted questions about whether hostility extends beyond the White House to Americans themselves,” the poll states.
Seventy-nine per cent of Canadians hold an unfavourable view of Trump, the poll noted.
While 78 per cent of Americans say the U.S. should be approaching Canada either as a valued partner or on friendly terms, 65 per cent of Canadians say Canada should approach the U.S. either cautiously, or as a potential threat.
On top of that, six per cent of Canadians say the country should approach the U.S. as an “enemy.”
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Tension between the two nations’ leaders has picked back up recently, with Trump taking aim at Canada on Aug. 5, calling the country — and its leadership — “nasty” five times during a speech in Las Vegas.
“Canada’s nasty. They are. They’re nasty,” he said. “I love the people, but they’re nasty. Nasty leadership.”
Earlier that day, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney poked at Trump when his teleprompter malfunctioned in the middle of a news conference on housing policy, saying, “I do not view this as a conspiracy.” Carney was referencing Trump’s demands for an investigation after he encountered a halted escalator and a non-functioning teleprompter last year at the UN General Assembly, where he delivered a speech.
Trump has also reignited tariff worries amongst Canada when the White House imposed an additional 50 per cent tariff on Canadian imports due to retaliatory and “discriminatory” measures on July 20.
Trump has also threatened to tariff Canada in regard to the country’s wildfire smoke.
Amid Trump’s threats, travel from Canadians to the U.S. plummeted starting shortly after his inauguration in January 2025.
In July 2026, Canadian-resident return trips from the U.S. equalled 2.3 million, up 10.2 per cent from the same month in 2025, according to Statistics Canada.
This marked the fourth consecutive month of year-over-year growth, with the agency stating the June 2026 increase is “largely due to a base-year effect, as Canadian-resident trips to the United States declined sharply in 2025 following geopolitical tensions.”
The long-awaited opening of the new Gordie Howe International Bridge saw more than 41,000 vehicles crossed from the U.S. into Canada in its first five days of operation.
Between July 27-31, the Gordie Howe International Bridge was used for 18,900 Canadian-resident return trips from the U.S. by automobile and 18,100 US-resident trips to Canada by automobile. During the same period, there were 31,500 return trips by Canadian residents and 21,200 arrivals to Canada by U.S. residents via the other Windsor crossings.
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