While U.S. President Donald Trump has paused his proposed tariffs, some Canadians vow they have no plans to return to buying American.
“I think they’ve awoken a sleeping giant,” said Glenn Naylor of Courtenay, B.C. “We’ve been far too complacent for far too long about being Canadian, and I think what this has done, no matter what the delay is, it’s opened our eyes to (the) need to be more focused on Canada.”
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau this past weekend urged Canadians to pick local over U.S. options as the country braced for incoming U.S. tariffs, which were set to take effect on Feb. 4. On the afternoon of Feb. 3, Trudeau and Trump announced a 30-day pause.
In the time in between, Canadians flocked to social media for help on sourcing Canadian-made goods, and others, like business owners, got rid of American-made products, such as U.S.-imported alcohol.
And like Naylor, even with the pause in tariffs, several said they have no plans of returning to buying American unless absolutely necessary.
“I think people are so angry that I think this will take off,” said Ann Williams of Ladysmith, B.C.
“I think there’s going to be a boycott of American goods. I’m not saying that we can’t or won’t buy American goods, because sometimes that’s the only option, but as far as I’m concerned, I will avoid as much as possible.”
Louis Arsenault said looking at labels to check if an item was Canadian was not a focus for him in the past, but now it’s a “different story.”
Going forward, he plans to look at labels and focus on buying Canadian, including visiting Moncton stores selling local produce.
“I’m a proud Canadian and I want to support anything to get us out of this tariff and we’re going to be buying Canadian as much as possible,” Arsenault said.
“As a matter of fact, tariff or no tariff, we’re going to be doing that from now on.”
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Businesses as well are pushing forward with the buy Canadian sentiment, with some leaders encouraging retailers to promote local goods.
Unifor national president Lana Payne said businesses should harness that feeling and make Canadian products more widely recognizable, including the “big three” grocers, Loblaw, Sobeys and Metro.
“You need to take advantage of this moment, you need to showcase Canadian-made products and push and use your supply chain to actually develop more Canadian-made products,” she said.
“Canadians are furious right now in a way that Canadians don’t usually get furious at.”
Yet some economists and retail experts caution it may be difficult to achieve a lasting avoidance of American products.
Matt Poirier, vice-president of the Retail Council of Canada, said such sentiment can often “ebb and flow,” and while retailers sell and promote Canadian goods, it’s not the only products that can be sold.
“The reality for the retail sector is that while there are many Canadian goods that we could probably promote a bit more and encourage, it’s never going to be everything that Canadians want to buy,” he said.
“So we’re going to have to continue sourcing from the U.S. We’re going to have to continue sourcing from global partners like we’ve been doing for decades.”
However, as retailers were preparing for the currently paused tariffs to come into effect, they began looking at sources from abroad for non-American products to sell.
Economist Moshe Lander said while the move to buy Canadian is “noble,” it’s “foolish in practice.”
“If we’re now going to shift to buying Canadian to teach Americans a lesson, are we prepared to pay higher prices for lower quality? And if we’re going to inflict that damage on ourselves, is that going to really dent Americans in a way that makes them sit up and say, ‘Hey, maybe we want to reconsider this?’” Lander said.
Even with questions about how impactful a ‘Buy Canadian’ movement can be, Naylor said he believes people in the country should focus on supporting each other.
“Even if it’s (tariffs) all rescinded, who cares? Let’s focus on our own stuff. There’s no reason not to do it,” Naylor said. “We’re a strong, very, very fantastic country and let’s just do it. Let’s be Canadian.”
— With files from Global News’ Sean Boynton, Uday Rana, Heather Yourex-West, Felicia Parrillo and Suzanne Lapointe
© 2025 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
