Canada Has A Higher Standard Of Living, Say Americans
While Americans love their northern neighbors, the feeling isn't quite mutual
Newly released polling from Canadian pollster Abacus Data is shining new light on how Americans feel about their northern neighbors.
The survey found that 63% of Americans view Canada positively, with 2024 Harris voters being the most likely to have a positive view at 82%, compared to Trump voters, who sit at 53%.
Right off the bat, there’s a huge gulf between how Americans view Canada and how Canadians view America. The most recent survey in Canada, which was conducted back in September, found 63% of Canadians view the United States negatively, a complete inverse of how Americans view Canada.
Nevertheless, Americans seem much more positive toward Canada, though at least one of those reasons may be envy at the quality of life Canadians enjoy compared to Americans.
The survey found 20% of Americans saying they believe Canada generally has a much better quality of life compared to the United States, with another 28% saying Canada has a somewhat better quality of life.
On the flip side, 16% of Americans say that Canada has a somewhat worse or much worse quality of life than the US, with another 29% saying the two nations have very similar qualities of life.
Interestingly, those in border states were noticeably more likely than those in non-border states to believe Canada has a higher quality of life, with 55% of those in border states saying as much, compared to 46% of those in non-border states.
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Flipping to the political side of things, the survey also asked how Americans view the leaders of the two nations.
The survey found 50% of Americans view Trump negatively, while 40% say they view him positively, which is broadly in line with what many American pollsters find when they ask a similar question.
In contrast, Americans are more likely to view Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney positively than negatively, with 32% of Americans viewing Carney positively and only 17% viewing him negatively. Another 27% say they’re neutral toward the Prime Minister, with 23% saying they don’t know enough about him to have an opinion one way or the other.
Once again, another adventure in contrasts, as Carney is sitting at an approval rating of 60% or higher among Canadians, while Trump routinely finds himself with only 10–20% approval or favorability among Canadians, with the overwhelming majority disliking the president.
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However, on that front, Canadians still have to trade with their largest trading partner, and as such America benefits massively from the trade relationship with Canada.
Abacus found that 34% of Americans say Canada is very important to the American economy, with another 42% saying it is somewhat important. Only 15% say that Canada is either not very important or not at all important to the US economy.
There’s little difference between border states and non-border states, with 80% of those in border states saying Canada is important to the US economy, compared to 75% of those in non-border states who say the same thing.
Just today, Trump mused about dropping out of the USMCA, the major trade agreement that replaced NAFTA between Canada, the US, and Mexico. If Trump did pull America out of the trade agreement, the economic waves sent through all three economies would be massive and would negatively impact everyone’s bottom line as a result.
The survey found 40% of Americans say that the USMCA has been good for the United States, with another 19% saying it’s been neither good nor bad. Only 15% of Americans believe the trilateral trade agreement has been bad for the United States. Perhaps most impressive about that result is that Trump and Harris voters are broadly aligned on the positive and negative impacts of the USMCA on the American economy.
Where the two sides of the political aisle differ greatly, however, is on the impact of tariffs on the American economy. Just this week, new research found that Trump’s tariffs cost US households about $1,000 more last year, never mind the impact they have on US businesses.
The survey found 49% of Americans say the tariffs have been bad for the United States, with 82% of Harris voters and 17% of Trump voters sharing that view. On the flip side, only 33% of Americans believe the tariffs have been good for the US, with 69% of Trump voters holding that view and 7% of Harris voters agreeing.
The split between border states and the rest of the country is the number that really jumps out at me. I was recently reading through transcripts from the Standing Committee on International Trade (where MPs obsess over every move the White House makes), and the fear is usually that Americans just don't think about us at all. But seeing that 55% of people in border states actually believe we have a better quality of life suggests they are paying closer attention than we assume. It adds a strange layer to the USMCA debates if there is genuine envy crossing the border. It is also pretty rare to see a Canadian Prime Minister polling that well south of the border. Usually, our leaders are lucky if Americans can even name them.