‘Buy Canadian’ campaign resonates with Manitobans as U.S. tariffs loom: online survey

Posted on February 18, 2025 by Peggy

Manitobans are changing their buying habits and travel plans as the threat of a trade war with the United States looms, an online survey suggests.

The Probe Research s urvey, conducted from Feb. 3-6, focused on 600 adults living in Manitoba who were members of the company’s propriety panel or another national online panel.

Because an online panel is a non-probability sample, no margin of error can be ascribed, Probe Research says. Minor demographic information was applied to the sample to reflect the province’s population.

Last week, U.S. President Donald Trump signed orders imposing 25 per cent tariffs on both steel and aluminum entering the U.S — on top of the economy-wide 25 per cent tariff — that are scheduled to take effect March 12.

After Trump’s initial tariff threat of economy-wide of 25 per cent tariffs on Canadian products beginning on Feb. 1 (he paused implementation until March) Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Canadian premiers launched a “Buy Canadian” campaign to support domestic businesses and products.

The campaign has rippled across the country, prompting shoppers to pay more attention to the source of their groceries.

Apps to make buying Canadian easier pop up in patriotism push

4 days ago

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Apps to make buying Canadian products at the grocery easier are showing up across the country with entrepreneurs crowdsourcing information about the origins of materials and ingredients.

The survey says respondents living in Winnipeg and those with higher formal education were more than 85 per cent likely to “essentially boycott” American products as compared with just under 60 per cent of rural or northern respondents.

Almost 90 per cent of people over the age of 55 — comprising three-quarters of the total respondents — were more likely to stop buying U.S. made products, the survey found.

People aged 55 and older who took the survey and those who lived in Winnipeg were found to more likely put off plans to travel to the U.S. That’s compared with just over half of respondents between the age of 35-54 who say they would postpone or cancel a trip.

Overall, more than six in 10 people surveyed indicated they had cancelled vacation plans in the U.S., with women 10 per cent more likely to have decided against or cancelled a trip than men.

‘We’re not going to America’: Canadians boycott U.S. over Trump threats

4 days ago

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Airlines and travel companies are taking a hit as more Canadians cancel U.S. travel plans, and even sell American property, over U.S. President Donald Trump’s repeated threats against Canada.

NDP and Liberal supporters surveyed are more likely to boycott U.S. goods and travel than Conservative supporters, the survey found.

Among federal Liberal supporters surveyed, more than 90 per cent said they have cancelled or decided against a trip to the U.S. in the next six months as compared with about one third of Conservative respondents.

Many ‘somewhat confident’ in Kinew’s approach

When it comes to regional approaches, the survey found six in 10 respondents were “somewhat confident” in Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew’s abilities to handle tariffs should they be implemented.

NDP and Liberal supporters were found to be 89 per cent more likely to have confidence in Kinew, while a third of respondents who support the provincial Progressive Conservatives expressed trust in Kinew’s approach.

Four in 10 respondents who are federal Conservative supporters also supported Kinew’s approach to deal with Trump’s economic policies, the survey found