How important is Canada’s upcoming election for the US? What a new poll found
.jpg "A majority of Americans, 60%, believe the outcome of Canada’s upcoming election will be important to the U.S., according to a new poll.")
Most Americans believe the result of the upcoming election in Canada will be consequential to the U.S., according to a new poll, which comes as relations between the two countries have deteriorated.
In an April 7 YouGov poll, 60% of respondents said the outcome of Canada’s federal election is very important (28%) or somewhat important (32%) to America. Meanwhile, just 15% said it is not too important (10%) or not at all important (5%), and 25% said they weren’t sure.
The poll — which sampled 6,180 U.S. adults and has a margin of error of 1.5 percentage points — revealed a small partisan divide on this question.
Among Democrats, 74% said the election result will be important, while 59% of Republicans and 51% of independents said the same.
The election — which will be held on April 28 — was called by Prime Minister Mark Carney shortly after he was sworn into office in March, replacing former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
Under Canada’s parliamentary system, voters will not cast their ballots directly for prime minister, but for members of Parliament. The party that wins the greatest number of seats will then form the federal government, and the party’s leader will become prime minister.
There are a handful of parties vying for power, but the two that are polling highest are the Liberal Party of Canada, led by Carney, and the Conservative Party of Canada, led by Pierre Poilievre.
The election will be held amid a period of heightened tensions between Canada and the U.S. — two longtime allies and trading partners — resulting from President Donald Trump’s rhetoric and policies.
Since returning to the White House, Trump has repeatedly said he wants to make the Great White North “the 51st state” and has slapped tariffs on Canadian imports.
Carney’s response has been to take a hard line.
“I reject any attempts to weaken Canada, to wear us down, to break us so that America can own us,” he said on March 27. “That will never happen. And our response to these latest tariffs is to fight, is to protect and to build.”
The Liberal Party has seemingly benefited from this tactic, gaining momentum in recent polls.
Poilievre — whose populist rhetoric has drawn comparisons to Trump — has also repudiated the U.S. president, despite having embraced some of his policies in the past, according to Politico.
“Sometimes it does take a threat to remind us what we have, what we could lose and what we could become,” he said at a rally in February, according to CBC. “The unjustified threats of tariffs and 51st statehood of Donald Trump have united our people to defend the country we love.”
This story was originally published April 7, 2025 at 1:00 PM with the headline "How important is Canada’s upcoming election for the US? What a new poll found."