Analysis: Trade war fueling nationalist consumer sentiment in Canada – will it spread?

As the world reels from US President Donald Trump’s stop-start approach to global trade barriers, Canadian consumers are buying local – even when it comes to their pets.

Shortly after Trump first announced a 25% tariff on most Canadian goods, threatened by the rebuke from their largest trade partner and longtime ally, Canadians began purchasing more local products.

The bid to counter Trump’s strongman tactics has continued to shape consumer sentiment in Canada. The pet food and supply market is now being impacted, though the extent remains unclear.

Most new global tariffs from the US are on pause until July, but global consumer sentiment is already shifting away from the US.

A national boycott?

Shortly after tariffs were announced, Canadians began swearing off American imports as politicians pushed for some US products to be removed from store shelves.

In February, research from Abacus Data measured the scale of this nationalism-driven consumer sentiment.

Researchers found that 42% of Canadian consumers surveyed say they would “absolutely do everything” to avoid purchasing products from the US and American companies. 84% of Canadians say they’d at least considered buying more Canadian-made products.

“Canadian brands should seize this moment to highlight their roots, proudly proclaiming how their supply chains, partnerships and workforce bolster the Canadian economy,” analysts at Abacus write.

A new survey from the market research company released on 15 April finds out that 88% of Canadians now prioritize buying Canadian-made products, seeing it as a way to support national resilience. Similarly, 87% believe that helping Canadian businesses strengthens the country.

Nearly 8 out of 10 Canadians (77%) express more skepticism toward American companies, with nearly half (49%) avoiding American brands altogether. Over half (56%) of Canadians surveyed are willing to pay a premium for Canadian-made goods, driven by a desire to support local jobs and the economy.

The Canadian pet industry is shifting accordingly

Stevie Devries, a Market Manager for Ren’s Pets in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, says she’s noticed an uptick in support for Canadian brands. “We’ve always put our brands up first, and we’re made in Canada. We’re owned Canadian, right? So we’ve always been proud of that,” she says, adding, “That’s something we’ve always had. So you don’t see it too much more, but you definitely see it more on average than you would day to day.”

Kyle Feigenbaum, the CEO of the dog food and treat brand Healthybud, says he appreciates customers noticing his company’s Canadian identity. However, he notes this wouldn’t outweigh the long-term problems that tariffs would pose. “[Buy Canadian is] great and all, but it’s not the solution,” he says.

Meanwhile, Ontario-based pet services business PetsCool adds it has always sourced most of its products from Canada – now the company is advertising accordingly, trying to cash in on the Buy Canadian movement with patriotic marketing.

At Little Bear Animalerie in Westmount, Quebec, owner Chuck Altman told CTV that his store saw a surge of customers looking for Canadian goods – but he suggested that pet owners may not want to disrupt their feeding routines over politics. “People were coming in right away saying they only wanted Canadian products, but when it came down to it… we don’t want to really affect the dogs’ or the cats’ daily diets,” he told the network.

What about elsewhere?

Canada’s economy is uniquely dependent on the US, meaning the threats to trade have particular resonance there. Large-scale “buy local” movements in Mexico, Europe and elsewhere have yet to materialize as clearly.

In 2023, the most recent year for which World Bank data is available, Canada imported $1.2 billion (€970M) worth of pet food from the US.

However, groups in Europe are beginning to push for boycotts of American goods due to Trump’s policies. Consumers in Denmark, in particular, have made progress toward organizing a boycott, many outraged over Trump’s trade talk and aggressive stance on Greenland, a Danish territory. The country imported relatively little pet food ($436,000/€386,000 worth) from the United States in 2023.

Marketing as locally sourced may be newly beneficial in persuading consumers, especially if tariffs resume as planned in July.