This article was written and scheduled for publication prior to the latest announcement from Washington about new tariffs on Canadian exports, and is based on a survey fielded in April.
Has the level of concern among Canadians about the impact of tariffs on the economy and employment declined since 2025?
In early 2025, concern about the impact of newly announced U.S. tariffs on Canadian exports was widespread. According to the Survey on Employment and Skills, more than eight in ten Canadians (83%) said they were very or somewhat worried about the impact that tariffs would have on the Canadian economy overall, making it one of the defining economic concerns of the year. Majorities in every province expressed concern about the potential economic consequences of the trade dispute, with levels of concern being highest in Prince Edward Island (88%), Alberta (87%), and Newfoundland and Labrador (86%), and only slightly lower in Quebec (80%) and New Brunswick (76%).
Many Canadians were also worried about the impact of tariffs on their own employment. Overall, 47 percent of employed Canadians said they were worried about the impact that U.S. tariffs would have on the job they currently have. Younger workers (age 18-24) were slightly more likely than average to express concern, with 52 percent reporting they were worried about the impact of tariffs on their own job. The survey also found higher levels of concern among racialized workers, immigrants, lower-income earners, and those employed in sales, retail and the skilled trades.
In 2026, the numbers still hold: eight in ten (78%) Canadians are still worried about the impact that the tariffs could have on the economy. The most notable difference over the past year is that Canadians are less likely to say they are “very worried” and more likely to say they are “somewhat worried”. Overall concern (very or somewhat concerned) has dipped only slightly, from 83 to 78 percent.
In 2026, the proportions that are very worried are highest in Alberta and Nova Scotia (41% in both cases). But, in every province, majorities remain at least somewhat worried about the potential economic impact of U.S. tariffs.
Many Canadians are also still worried about the impact that tariffs might have on the jobs they currently have, though somewhat less so than in 2025: four in ten Canadians say they are worried, seven percentage points lower than in 2025. Overall, a majority (56%) now says they are not very worried or not worried at all.
The level of concern declines with age. While all age groups are slightly less worried than they were last year, younger Canadians age 18 to 24 remain the most likely to say they are very or somewhat worried (50%), while older Canadians age 55 and older are the least likely (30%). This doesn’t come as a surprise, as the younger age group includes recent graduates and those who’ve just landed their first jobs, whereas the older group includes those with higher job seniority and more security.
Recent immigrants remain more worried about the impact the tariffs could have on their job. While concern declined by 11 percentage points between 2025 and 2026, it’s still high compared to other immigrants and to non-immigrants.
The bottom line is that, over a year after the first announcement of new U.S. tariffs on Canadian exports, public concern has neither dissipated nor disappeared: most Canadians are still worried about the impact on the Canadian economy, while a significant minority remains concerned about the direct impact on their own employment. Perhaps in the context of uncertainly around the future of CUSMA (the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement) and periodic new threats from the White House, it is reassuring (or even surprising) that public perceptions have not gotten worse. But at the very least, this lingering concern continues to frame the country’s politics.
The data in this article are from the 9th wave of the Survey on Employment and Skills. This survey is conducted by the Environics Institute for Survey Research, in partnership with the Diversity Institute at Toronto Metropolitan University and the Future Skills Centre. This wave of the study consists of a survey of 5,671 Canadians age 18 and over, conducted between March 24 and April 28, 2026, in all provinces and territories. It was conducted both online (in the provinces) and by telephone (in the territories). More information about the survey is available on the Environics Institute website. The authors are solely responsible for any errors of presentation or interpretation.
The Survey on Employment and Skills is funded primarily by the Government of Canada’s Future Skills Centre / Le sondage sur l’emploi et les compétences est financé principalement par le Centre des Compétences futures du gouvernement du Canada.
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Cover photo credit: Brian Forsyth
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