Former Canadian Diplomat Colin Robertson has never witnessed a Flag Day quite like this one.
On February 15, nearly every house on his block raised a Canadian flag in honor of the 60th anniversary of the famous red and white maple leaf being hoisted above the Parliament building.
Unlike in the United States, it is uncommon for homes to fly a Canadian flag without reason.
“I went out and bought a flag, something I have never done before,” Robertson said. “This is a manifestation of how this [the US] really struck a chord with people.”
President Donald Trump threatened to annex Canada as the 51st state. That claim – along with the slapping of 25 percent tariffs on Canadian imports – sparked a rise in Canadian patriotism and broke a bond of trust between the United States and Canada. People are now booing during the “Star Spangled Banner” at sporting events between American and Canadian teams.
“Buy Canadian” signs are popping up in grocery store windows. Such actions towards the United States are unprecedented, Robertson said. “We will remain neighbors and allies, and maybe partners, but the level of trust and certainty that conditioned that relationship following World War II is gone,” said John Parisella, former Quebec Delegate General in New York and Washington, D.C.
Since the 1940s, Canada and the United States have been considered close allies, though they have disagreed at times. Canada opposed U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War and the 2003 U.S. led invasion of Iraq. None of these history defining events tested their relationship’s foundation like Trump’s repeated threat of making Canada the 51st state.
Trump has ignored diplomatic precedent, referring to former-Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau as an American state “Governor.”
“It was a pleasure to have dinner the other night with Governor Justin Trudeau of the Great State of Canada,” Trump wrote on Truth Social in December. Trump confirmed to Fox News in February that his threat to annex Canada is a “real thing.”
Canadians can deal with tariffs, and have done so before, but the idea that Trump really wants Canada as a state “has shaken Canada from any kind of complacency,” Robertson said.
Before February, only 34% of Canadians were “very proud” to be Canadian, but the number jumped to 44% following the continued Trump Administration rhetoric around annexing Canada and implementing tariffs, a poll conducted by the Angus Reid Institute found.
“We need to prepare to stand up to the United States and to take a bit of pain, hopefully for a short term, but we will ultimately work the relationship out again,” Robertson said.
Through executive order on Feb. 1, Trump initially imposed 25% tariffs on Canadian and Mexican goods, with a 10% tariff on energy resources imported from Canada. The Trump administration paused the tariff implementation for 30 days, but March 4 marked the end of the delay. The Canadian government responded by implementing 25% retaliatory tariffs on around $20.8 billion worth of imported American products. A week later, the U.S. placed a 25% tariff on Canadian steel and aluminum products, a decision to which Canada replicated by placing their own 25% tariff on imported American steel and aluminum products.
Canada is America’s largest energy supplier in crude oil, natural gas and electricity, according to the Congressional Research Service.
This has raised American concerns about potential economic fallout for the energy industry. Still, the tariffs will have an insurmountable impact on both countries. Beyond the energy sector, around ¾ of Canadian exports went to the United States and about ⅔ of Canadian imports came from the United States in 2024, according to Canada’s national statistics office.
The goal of the tariffs is to hold Canada and Mexico accountable for “their promises of halting illegal immigration and stopping poisonous fentanyl and other drugs from flowing into our country,” Trump’s executive order stated. In hopes of avoiding a trade war, Trudeau and the government responded with a 1.3 billion Canadian dollar package to fortify the border. This includes newly appointed Fentanyl czar Kevin Brosseau, along with increasing border patrol and surveillance via drone and helicopter, according to Trudeau on X.
Less than 1% of fentanyl entering the United States comes from Canada, according to Trudeau.
However, it is difficult for Canada to negotiate with the White House because they are in a lame duck period. Trudeau announced in January that he is stepping down as leader of the liberal party and as Prime Minister. Trudeau also suspended parliament until March 24 to reset the legislative agenda for the next leader.
His successor, Mark Carney, took office March 14, placing Canada in a better position to negotiate.
“We need a government with a mandate to deal with the crisis at hand and so the uncertainty is definitely weighing on people,” director of the School of Public Policy at the University of Calgary Martha Hall Findlay said.
Despite the pause, Trudeau, Brosseau, Minister of National Defense Bill Blair and Canada’s Ambassador to the United States, Kirsten Hillman met with Canada’s premiers, the head of government in specific provinces, in February to discuss concerns about Canada-US relations. The Council of the Federation, a group of Canada’s premiers, also traveled to Washington, D.C. to meet with their American counterparts.
Some experts believe Canada will benefit from the patriotic spark because a relationship change between the US and Canada will spur Canada to become more self-sufficient. “Trump is acting as a catalyst for things we should have done years ago,” Robertson said.
On April 2, when the Trump Administration announced across-the-board tariffs against dozens of countries, Canada was left off the list.
Canada has always been wary of becoming too reliant on the United States. When the first Free Trade Agreement between Canada and the United States was signed in 1988, many Canadians feared that they would lose political independence. For decades afterwards, Canadian prime ministers have tried to diversify Canada’s economy away from the United States, but the countries became more and more intertwined.
Following the tariff threat, Trudeau announced that Canada needs to eliminate internal trade barriers and expand trade. Interprovincial regulations restrict or prevent the flow of goods across province borders. Natural barriers like geography, prohibitive barriers including restrictions on the sale of alcohol, technical barriers such as vehicle weight standards and regulatory barriers like licensing and paperwork requirements have weakened Canada’s national economy, pushing many Canadians to look for a more efficient system. “This is a moment,” Trudeau said. “This is a time in our country’s history that really matters.”
Findlay predicts that Canada will prioritize becoming more independent from the American economy and will better capitalize on Canadian resources by diversifying trade. “[This is] not because Trump said we should, but because there are things that are important for Canada’s economic, prosperity and national sovereignty,” Findlay said.
