Trade Job 1 For Canadians: POLL

Published 06/24/2025 · Updated 06/24/2025

Prime Minister Mark Carney is in Europe this week for a NATO summit that has only increased in importance after escalations in the Middle East that have seen Israel, and the United States bomb Iran and Iran retaliate with strikes on Israel and a U.S. base in Qatar.

New data from the non-profit Angus Reid Institute finds Carney will have work to do to convince Canadians that the country is keeping up militarily in an increasingly precarious global environment. Three-quarters (75%) say they believe this country is “falling behind”, even as Carney has committed to a significant defence spending increase in recent weeks. This is a significant increase compared to last year, perhaps reflecting the anxiety of the moment.

Carney’s challenge, however, is complex. Consider that while Canadians are increasingly likely to say the military is falling behind, and support increasing defence expenditures by billions, by far the top choice for the nation’s international priority is building better trade ties with international partners (66%) rather than focusing on military preparedness (21%) or humanitarian concerns (13%). Governments often boast about being able to walk and chew gum at the same time, but each priority is an immense undertaking, alongside domestic “nation-building” projects. The proportion of Canadians saying the government should focus on improving trade has increased 23-points compared to last year, from 43 to 66 per cent.

Looking at the broader global situation, concerns about global conflicts escalating to nuclear war are apparent, but no more so that in previous years. In 2017, when U.S. President Donald Trump was threatening to “totally destroy North Korea”, 37 per cent of Canadians felt that such nuclear conflict was inevitable. Now, after the recent bombing campaign against Iran’s nuclear facilities, fewer but close to the same amount (32%) say the same, but the number of Canadians showing uncertainty in response to the question has risen (from 14% to 21%).v

More Key Findings:

With talk of joining the “Golden Dome” missile defence system touted by President Trump, Canadians are less than certain an agreement with the U.S. would guarantee Canada’s safety. Slightly fewer say Canada would be safer (35%) as disagree (40%), and one-quarter are unsure (25%). The proportion of Canadians who said joining missile defence with the U.S. would make Canada safer has dropped from 40 per cent in 2017.
With a new prime minister at the helm, the proportion of Canadians saying Canada is “keeping up” in diplomatic influence has jumped double digits from last March (27% to 37%), though many still say Canada has more to do and is behind where it should be (49%).
56 per cent say Canada is keeping up in terms of foreign aid, matching the total who said this in 2015, the first year of the Trudeau government, and marking a nine-point increase since last year

Link to the poll here: www.angusreid.org/