After Trump’s sovereignty threats, Canadians keep ‘elbows up’

For Lisa Mcbean, buying American-made snacks and traveling to the U.S. was second nature. That changed for the Ontario resident starting in early 2025.

Since then, the 54-year-old has checked if products are made in Canada before buying at the grocery store. Mcbean canceled multiple trips to the U.S. she had planned for concerts. Once-common jaunts across the border to shop are out of the picture.

The reason: U.S. President Donald Trump‘s repeated calls for Canada to become the 51st U.S. state. His tariffs on the country’s exports added salt to the wound, she said.

“Enough is enough,” Mcbean told CNBC. “Why do we have to make you great again at our expense?”

Mcbean’s rejection is part of a wider boycott by Canadians incensed at Trump’s levies and sovereignty claims. What was initially an unusual swell of Canadian patriotism a year ago has evolved into a new social and economic order for the country of 41 million.

The shift has affected everything from what brands Canadians buy to where they vacation to how they vote. There are economic implications on both sides of the border that policymakers are taking into account. Polling suggests the altered behavior won’t change anytime soon.

“Canadians have remained steadfast,” said Steve Mossop, executive vice president at Leger, a Montreal-based polling service. “The biggest surprise is how adamant Canadians are about not supporting the USA in any shape or fashion.”

Data shows Canadians continue spending with their “elbows up” — a hockey term that’s become a tagline for resistance to American pressure.

Thin ice

Canada was the second-largest U.S. trade partner in 2025, the Census Bureau reported. But economists warn that the old relationship is skating on thin ice. Excluding the pandemic, the percentage of Canada’s imports coming from the U.S. hit record lows last year.

“We’ve always seen the U.S. as a very strong and reliable ally,” said Michael Devereux, an economics professor at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver. “That has really been undermined in the last year.”

Canadians began moving their food purchases away from the U.S. starting in early 2025, a data analysis released last month from the Bank of Canada found. Domestic brands gained wallet share as retailers and liquor stores encouraged shoppers to instead buy Canadian.

Central bank researchers called this a structural change in the national economy stemming directly from heightened trade tensions. The transformation could have impacts on Canada’s inflation and the makeup of its gross domestic product, they said.