Canadians and Americans State of Relations: Canadians reject becoming 51st state but some one in four would favor removing borders between the two countries

February 4, 2025

Commenting on the idea of annexing Canada, US President Donald Trump declared that “Canada and the United States, that would really be something…you get rid of that artificially drawn line, and you take a look at what that looks like, and it would also be much better for national security.” President Trump is currently moving to impose significant tariffs on Canadian goods. Our two countries have long enjoyed a close relationship with important commercial and economic ties, defense and national security partnerships. Are we in the process of witnessing an important change to the relationship? What might the change imply for our economic ties, border security and other ‘shared’ interests? To answer some of these questions Leger Marketing was commissioned by the Association for Canadian Studies to conduct a detailed survey on several indicators of Canadian views the United States. It confirms Canada’s opposition to making us the 51st state, but does reveal some opening to removing the border between the two countries. It further points out that a majority of Canadians agree that they have more in common with Americans than any other peoples in the world. A third of Canadians feel we should closely align our foreign policy with the US. Most Canadians oppose joining the EU as a way to counteract threats from the US. The survey was conducted by Leger for the Association for Canadian Studies with 1578 respondents in Canada over the period January 17 and 19, 2025 A margin of error cannot be associated with a non-probability sample in a panel survey for comparison purposes. A probability sample of 1578 respondents would have a margin of error of ±2.5%, 19 times out of 20.