Most say they are buying Canadian at grocery store; three-in-five ‘boycotting’ U.S. products
February 19, 2025 – Tariffs on Canadian goods crossing into the United States may largely be on hold for another two weeks, but many Canadians are already changing their consumer habits to support domestic producers.
A new Angus Reid Institute analysis of data donated by the Angus Reid Group finds 85 per cent of Canadians stating that they have already done so, or plan to replace U.S. products. Half (48%) say they’re replacing as many as they can find substitutes for, while 37 per cent say they are replacing those where they can find a similar price and quality.
By far the most likely change that Canadians say they’re making or likely to make is purchasing Canadian groceries. Among those who will make a change, 98 per cent say they’re looking for “Made in Canada” when they peruse the aisles.
Breaking this down into more specific actions, the scale of potential change is evident. Four-in-five (78%) are committing to buying more Canadian products overall, while three-in-five (59%) say they’ll boycott U.S. products.
Travel is also in the crosshairs of Canadians. Half (48%) say they will cancel or delay plans to enter the U.S. Canadian airlines and travel companies are reportedly already feeling the financial impact of this trend.
More Key Findings:
- Amazon is evidently likely to feel the economic pain from Canadians changing their buying habits. Two-in-five (41%) say that as long as these threats from Trump are being made, they will seek to buy elsewhere than the internet giant.
- Men between the ages of 35 and 54 (28%) and current Conservative Party supporters (28%) are most likely to say they will not make any changes in response to this trade conflict. This, compared to 15 per cent in the general population.
- In addition to purchasing changes, one-quarter of Canadians (23%) say they’ve taken to social media to post comments in support of Canada, or plan to do so
INDEX
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Canadians’ response to tariffs – buy more Canadian products, boycotts
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Half plan to replace ‘as many’ U.S. products as possible with Canadian options
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Groceries by far the biggest substitute
Canadians’ response to tariffs – buy more Canadian products, boycotts
The threat posed by tariffs by U.S. President Donald Trump has not only boosted Canadian pride, but also has apparently changed Canadian consumer behaviour. Four-in-five (78%) say they already, or likely to, buy more Canadian products in response to the tariffs, while three-in-five (59%) say they are likely to boycott American-made products.
Half (48%) say they are cancelling or delaying plans to travel to the U.S., a trend noticed by Canadian travel agents.
Amazon, which accounted for 40 per cent of e-commerce sales in Canada as of 2023, also appears to be caught in the crosshairs of Canadians’ response to tariffs. Two-in-five (41%) say they are planning to decrease, or stop, their usage of Amazon.
Fewer, but still one-in-five, say they are planning on cancelling streaming services such as Amazon Prime, Netflix, or Disney+:
Canadians older than 54 are the most likely to say they are planning to take some sort of action, whether it is buying more Canadian products or using less or boycotting American ones. Men, and especially those aged 35- to 54-years-old, are most likely to say they won’t be taking any action (28%).
Notably, approaching three-quarters (72%) of women older than 54 say they plan to boycott U.S.-made products, while a majority of both men and women that age say they plan to cancel U.S. travel:
Canadians in the lowest income bracket are the least likely to say they are cancelling travel plans to the U.S. but are more likely to say they are considering cancelling American subscription and streaming services.
Half of Canadians in the highest income bracket plan to stop using Amazon, while majorities are planning boycotts of American-made products (60%) and avoiding travel to the U.S. (58%):
Half plan to replace ‘as many’ U.S. products as possible with Canadian options
Putting this another way, there are more than four-in-five (85%) Canadians who are planning, or already have, replaced U.S. products with Canadian ones. That figure includes half of Canadians (48%) who say they will be doing this for as many products as possible and two-in-five (37%) who are looking to do so but are also factoring in price and quality of the goods.
One-in-six (15%) say they won’t be replacing U.S. products with Canadian:
The response to U.S. tariffs on Canadian buying habits is varied across the country. A majority in Quebec (54%) and Atlantic Canada (53%) say they plan to replace as many U.S. products as possible with Canadian ones. Fewer than two-in-five (37%) in Alberta say the same. In fact, in Alberta, and neighbouring Saskatchewan, one-in-five say they aren’t planning on changing their buying habits at all:
Two-thirds (66%) of women older than 54 and 55 per cent of men that age say they plan on swapping American goods for Canadian ones wherever possible. Men aged 35 to 54 are the most likely (28%) to say they aren’t changing their buying habits to focus on Canadian goods:
The Trump tariff threats, and the federal government response, remains a key political issue that will likely heavily factor into the next election, whenever that comes. The upheaval to Canada-U.S. relations brought on by Trump also has likely played a role in a fluid vote dynamic that has revived the Liberal party in the wake of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s resignation announcement.
Related: Federal vote intention tightens to near-tie as Liberals and New Democrats rally around Carney
Majorities of likely Liberal (66%), NDP (51%) and Bloc Québécois (58%) voters say they plan to swap as many American brands for Canadian ones as possible. Three-in-ten (30%) of those who say they will vote Conservative say the same, but nearly as many (28%) say they have no plans to do that at all:
Groceries by far the biggest substitute
For the four-in-five Canadians who are planning to buy more Canadian products, the grocery store appears to be ground zero for this trend. Nearly all (98%) say they intend to buy more Canadian groceries, while a majority also say they will be shopping for Canadian-made snacks and pop (56%) and clothing (54%).
Half (50%) say they intend to buy more Canadian alcohol. This comes after B.C., Manitoba, Ontario, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island had removed some American-made alcohol products from liquor stores in those provinces when the tariffs were first threatened to be enforced earlier in February. Those measures were mostly rescinded across the country after Trump announced a 30-day reprieve on the imposition of tariffs on Canada.
METHODOLOGY:
Angus Reid Institute researchers analyzed data donated by Angus Reid Group from a survey conducted online from February 16 – 18, 2025 among a representative randomized sample of 3,310 Canadian adults who are members of Angus Reid Forum. For comparison purposes only, a probability sample of this size would carry a margin of error of +/- 1.5 percentage points, 19 times out of 20. Discrepancies in or between totals are due to rounding. The survey was self-commissioned and paid for by ARI. Detailed tables are found at the end of this release.
For detailed results by age, gender, region, education, and other demographics, click here.
Download the full report here.
For questionnaire, click here.
MEDIA CONTACTS:
Jennifer Birch, EVP & Managing Director, Angus Reid Group: 613.668.5237 jennifer.birch@angusreid.com
Dave Korzinski, Research Director, Angus Reid Institute: 250.899.0821 dave.korzinski@angusreid.org
