Opinion: It’s easier to support a trade war if you can afford one

New Ipsos research suggests that support for Canada’s position on trade is more conditional than the government’s current defiant stance may suggest.

For older Canadians and for those who can afford it, sovereignty is something they have the means to fight for. For younger Canadians and those with lower incomes, their finances take precedence. It isn’t necessarily that these Canadians do not want Canada to take a strong stand; they just don’t think they can take the hit.

Over a week since trade talks between Canada and the United States broke down, it is clear that Canadians support Mark Carney’s decision to recall Canada’s negotiating team from Washington. Ipsos polling exclusive to Global News shows that 63 per cent of Canadians say Canada was right to stand firm, even if the move meant higher tariffs and significant job losses in Canada. That compares to 18 per cent who said Canada should have made additional compromises to reach an agreement, even if we didn’t get everything we wanted. This support is consistent across the country in every region.

This overall agreement, however, masks a deep generational divide across Canada that has become familiar over the last year. We found that baby boomers were resolutely behind the prime minister’s decision to walk away, with 80 per cent backing him. Likewise, Canadians with a university education (74 per cent) and those making more than $100K (76 per cent) were more likely to back the Government’s decision to walk away. By contrast, among Generation Z, the youngest generation, just 48 per cent said that Canada was right to stand firm.

We found significant divides across generations and income. Typically older, university-educated Canadians — in other words, more affluent Canadians — were more supportive of the Government’s position. Those more likely to be struggling, such as younger Canadians or those with less education, were less supportive. Walking away from the negotiating table and defending Canadian sovereignty is fine for those who can afford it, and a personal risk to those who cannot.

Get daily National news

Get daily Canada news delivered to your inbox so you'll never miss the day's top stories.

Sign up for daily National newsletter Get Started

By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy.

A slight majority of Canadians also say they are willing to “undergo significant economic pain to help the rest of Canada.” Here, too, however, we find significant differences in age and income.  Just 41 per cent of Gen Z respondents were willing to pay a personal price, compared to 67 per cent of boomers. What about income? Among those earning less than $40K, 45 per cent were willing to pay a personal price. Among those earning over $100K, that rises to 61 per cent.

None of this is particularly surprising, given that Canada is currently living through an Endurance Economy, characterized by concerns about the high cost of living and economic uncertainty. Those most affected by the Endurance Economy are also among the people most affected by the tariffs and ongoing trade war, and the most likely to think Canada should have made additional compromises to get a deal. In other words, younger, more vulnerable Canadians.

Right now, a slight majority of Canadians (59 per cent) are confident that our political leaders can manage U.S. President Donald Trump. The durability of this support likely depends on how long the dispute goes on. And Canadians do expect it to continue. Seven in 10 (67 per cent) say the tension will not be resolved soon, up three points since July 2025. This has been going on for a while, and we expect it to persist.

If Canadians are going to have to pay a price for our sovereignty, who should pay it? In addition to our survey exclusive to Global News, Ipsos posed some open-ended questions to Canadians on our Ipsos Communities platform.   One question we asked is who should bear the brunt of the costs, and who should be protected? The results further suggest our national resolve doesn’t include everybody.

In the context of an affordability crisis and an Endurance Economy, many Canadians want someone else — either the government, wealthy individuals or large companies — to bear the cost. This may be due in part to the fact that some cannot pay any more themselves. Despite older Canadians being more willing to pay personal costs, for some, that isn’t an option.

One respondent wrote that “The extremely wealthy should have increased taxes, as should big rich corporations. I don’t feel willing to accept any costs, I’m maxed out, on a fixed income and falling behind already. I think seniors should be protected. We’ve paid our dues.”

Another Canadian worried that big businesses would use the opportunity to increase profits. “I would not be willing to accept higher prices from big established brands who want to use this transitory period for profiteering,” this person wrote, adding that “small businesses need to be protected from these costs.”

For the moment, Canadians are united behind a tough approach to the U.S., but there is danger in assuming that support will hold indefinitely. Public support for the difficult decisions ahead depends partly on whether people believe the costs are being equitably shared and their own personal ability to withstand the uncertainty.

The longer the dispute lasts, the more important those questions become, and the more household reality informs the answers. After all, it’s easier to fight a trade war when you can afford one.

Gregory Jack is a senior vice president with Ipsos Public Affairs