As Canada grapples with ongoing trade tensions with the United States, a new national poll reveals a marked shift in public opinion toward deepening trade relations with China. According to a Nanos Research survey conducted for CTV News and The Globe and Mail, Canadians are now four times more likely to support increasing trade with China than they were just two years ago.
While 31 per cent of respondents now favour expanding trade with the Asian superpower, only five per cent held that view in late 2022, and just seven per cent said the same in mid-2023. At the same time, opposition to trade with China has significantly declined. Only 20 per cent of respondents now say Canada should reduce trade with China—down dramatically from 55 per cent in 2023 and 61 per cent in 2022.
Nik Nanos, chief data scientist at Nanos Research, noted that while most Canadians still prefer to maintain the status quo, the appetite for growing trade ties with China is clearly gaining momentum. “About two in five Canadians think Canada should keep its trade relationship at the current level,” he said, “but the appetite to increase it has grown.”
The poll did not measure whether this shift in opinion was influenced by the ongoing trade conflict between Canada’s largest trading partner, the United States, and China, initiated by U.S. President Donald Trump.
Support for increased trade varied by political affiliation. Green Party supporters were the most likely to back deeper trade ties with China at 45.2 per cent, followed by supporters of the NDP at 35.7 per cent, Bloc Québécois at 33.5 per cent, Liberals at 32.4 per cent, and Conservatives at 27.1 per cent. On the flip side, Conservatives were the most likely to call for reduced trade, with 28.9 per cent preferring a decrease—more than double the rate among Liberals and NDP supporters.
Men were more supportive than women of expanding the relationship, at 37.8 per cent versus 28.7 per cent. Regionally, Quebec led with the highest level of support for expanded trade at 36.2 per cent, while Alberta showed the least enthusiasm at 24.8 per cent.
The Nanos poll was conducted between April 21 and 23 and surveyed 1,307 randomly selected Canadian adults by phone and online. The results carry a margin of error of plus or minus 2.7 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.