Montreal, Canada – Canada has experienced a tumultuous start to 2025, with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announcing his resignation days into the new year, a federal election looming, and the country’s affordability crisis deepening.
Canada is currently experiencing what some economists have called the “its largest trade shock in nearly 100 years.”
Donald Trump, the president of the United States, has threatened to impose 25% tariffs on Canadian energy and 25% on imports of a wide range of goods.
As the nations work together on border security, Trudeau claimed on Monday afternoon that the US tariffs and retaliatory measures would be delayed by “at least 30 days” as they were scheduled to start the measures on Tuesday.
The potential for a trade war between the long-standing allies continues to stoke a sense of anger as well as worry and dread over what lies ahead for many across the nation.
Trump’s threat of tariffs has also sparked concerns about the nature of cross-border relations and spurred calls for Canada to boost bilateral trade while looking for more trustworthy international partners outside the US.
“It’s very, very worrisome right now for workers”, Lana Payne, the national coordinator of Unifor, Canada’s largest private-sector union, told Al Jazeera before the tariff delay was announced.
“A lot of concern, a lot of worry, a lot of uncertainty — they’re feeling all of it”, she said in a phone interview on Monday.
“But I would also add that, given our long history of working together, they are currently enraged that the United States would damage the Canadian economy and that Canadian workers are doing this.”
Canada-US ties
For decades, there have been close political and trade ties between the US and Canada.
Last year, the US exported more than $322m in goods to Canada, according to US Census data. Additionally, it imported products worth more than $ 377 million from its northern neighbor.
Nearly three-quarters of Canada’s total trade exports go to the US. About 97 percent of Canadian crude oil exports south of the border in 2023 are made up of the US, making it the largest foreign energy supplier.
Trump, who has repeatedly criticized Canada since winning re-election in November, claims that the tariffs are necessary to stop fentanyl trafficking and irregular immigration from both countries.
He has also argued that the tariffs aim to offset Canada’s “subsidy” trade deficit.
We pledge to sponsor Canada for hundreds of billions of dollars. Why? There is no reason. We don’t need anything they have. The US president recently posted a statement on social media that claimed “we have unlimited energy, should make our own cars, and have more lumber than we can ever use.”
Trudeau has hit back, announcing retaliatory tariffs against about $106bn (155 billion Canadian dollars) of US goods on Saturday. Of that, about $20bn (30 billion Canadian dollars) was set to be imposed on Tuesday.
“We will stand strong for Canada. Trudeau reaffirmed that we will continue to support our neighbors as the best neighbors in the world.
But on Monday afternoon, the Canadian prime minister announced the proposed tariffs would be paused “for at least 30 days” after he had a “good call” with Trump.
Canada will “appoint a Fentanyl Czar, we will list cartels as terrorists, ensure 24/7 eyes on the border, launch a Canada-US Joint Strike Force to combat organized crime, fentanyl and money laundering”, among other measures, Trudeau said.
President Trump just contacted me in a good way. Canada is implementing our $1.3 billion border plan — reinforcing the border with new choppers, technology and personnel, enhanced coordination with our American partners, and increased resources to stop the flow of fentanyl.  , Nearly…
‘ Subject to Trump’s whims ‘
Asa McKercher, a professor at St Francis Xavier University who studies Canada-US relations, said the two countries have experienced tensions in the past.
He brought up the conflict between Canadian Prime Minister John Diefenbaker and former US President John F. Kennedy in the early 1960s and Canada’s refusal to join the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003.
However, according to McKercher, the relationship has reached its lowest point as a result of the current trade tensions.
“We haven’t really seen the Americans putting forth a policy that will completely destroy the Canadian economy.” That is the difference here”, McKercher told Al Jazeera.
He claimed that there has been a rise in nationalist sentiment in Canada since Trudeau announced reciprocal measures and Trump signed the order authorizing tariffs against the country.
Over the weekend, Canadian hockey and basketball players booed the US national anthem, and provincial leaders have urged people to “buy Canadian” in response to the tariffs.
“Some people are reacting in the only ways they can, which is booing American hockey teams and not buying Kellogg’s cereal because it’s made in America”, he said.
For the average person, McKercher explained, those “little acts of defiance” offer “a sense of agency” in a situation where they might otherwise feel powerless.
“We’re really subject to the whims of a guy in the White House, and that’s a very scary thing”.
Confusion and uncertainty
Patricia and Lorraine, the owners of a small fruit-and-vegetable store in Montreal, were searching for an avocado when they arrived on Monday morning. They had to check that it wasn’t from the US.
“It’s creating a lot of anxiety for everyone, I think”, Patricia, who only gave Al Jazeera her first name, said of the looming tariffs. “Even the atmosphere in general: The prices will go up, it will change our pace of life”.
“We have to boycott]US products]. As the pair left the store, Lorraine said, “We have to.”
“We don’t have a choice”, Patricia added.
The shop’s owner, Amine Mulhim, said he was waiting to see how the potential tariffs would affect his business. He claimed for Al Jazeera that although he already sells a lot of local goods during the winter, the majority of the produce is imported from the US and Mexico.
“Already, everything is expensive”, he said.
Customer Angelo Baaco was adding US wines to a small shopping cart at a provincial liquor store a few blocks away. As of Tuesday, the Quebec government had previously announced that US alcohol would be discontinued.
It’s just something I won’t be able to get in the next few months, or for what reason. So I figured, ‘ OK, might as well get this, ‘” Baaco said, reaching for a red wine from California. “I’m going to grab another one, just in case”.
Yet the threat of a prolonged trade war goes beyond day-to-day purchases. The prospect could worsen an already difficult economic situation for many Canadians, including those who live in poverty and are homeless.
The Old Brewery Mission, a support and advocacy organization in Montreal, has a director of homelessness prevention, but Georges Ohana said the potential loss of jobs as a result of the US tariffs is his top concern.
According to him, “That can add to what has already been a very difficult year for inflation.”
Ohana already mentioned that in Montreal recently, the demand for food banks and shelter beds has increased. Rental costs in the city have also skyrocketed, making affordable housing harder to find.
“When you compound these different systems, it makes it more difficult for homeless men and women, people that are vulnerable, people that have trauma, to be able to get the necessary help they need”, he said.
But, Ohana added, “I don’t think we should jump to conclusions]on tariffs]. I believe we should wait to see how this turns out.
Not an ally’s actions, though.
Many Canadians are upset about Trump’s repeated threats to their country, even as Canada appears to have gotten a reprieve from US tariffs, at the very least for the moment.
Last week, political, labour and civil society leaders released the “Pledge for Canada” to build a nationwide response to the Trump administration’s policies.
That includes protecting Canadian sovereignty, reducing the country’s “dependence on the United States by diversifying our trade”, and building alliances with other countries, including on climate action, humanitarian aid and advancing democracy.
In a press conference announcing the campaign, lawmaker Charlie Angus of the New Democratic Party stated that it is becoming increasingly clear that to reduce Canada’s dependence on our southern neighbour.
A threat of tariffs, which has been a problem for Canada for weeks since Trump first made his plan public in November, is still dangerous, according to Payne at Unifor.
“It causes industry to pause on investments. It causes American industries to divert their investment. Because tariffs make it more expensive for them to operate, she explained, prompting industry to halt investments.
However, she added that Canada has come to understand that all of its economic and trade policies, including those relating to infrastructure projects and natural resource development, must be reviewed as a result of Trump’s tariff threat.
She told Al Jazeera, “All of that is on the table in a way that hasn’t been on the table in a very long time.”
There is a strong appetite for this right now because it seems like we no longer have a friend who is trustworthy and reliable trading partner, Payne continued.
