10 Reasons Canadians Might Just Be Grateful to Trump
Trump wanted to put Canada on the defensive. Instead, Canadians are looking inward, looking outward—and discovering just how many options we have.
I think about this quite frequently. If you had told me a year ago where Canada would be today, I honestly wouldn’t have believed you.
Canada is talking seriously about their own destiny. Canadians are paying more attention to where they shop and travel. Investors are putting enormous amounts of money into Canadian projects, and some very big things are finally getting built.
And, strangely enough, it often seems like Donald Trump’s tactics have backfired and some results in the opposite direction from what many Canadians expected.
The trade fight has certainly created costs and uncertainty. But it has also forced Canada to confront a question we’ve avoided for decades: what happens if we stop assuming America will always be our biggest customer?
Here are ten unexpected reasons Canadians might actually have something to be grateful to Trump for.
1. Canada Started Finding New Customers
Perhaps the biggest change is that Canada isn’t simply talking about trade diversification anymore. We’re actually doing it.
In July, Canada signed a free trade agreement with Ecuador, giving Canadian exporters improved access to a growing South American market. The same day, Canada concluded negotiations for a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement with the United Arab Emirates, which would eliminate or reduce tariffs covering more than 99% of Canada’s current exports to the UAE once implemented. Canada-Ecuador Free Trade Agreement Canada-UAE CEPA
Canada is also negotiating new agreements with India, ASEAN and the Philippines, with the federal government aiming to expand preferential access from roughly 1.5 billion consumers to 3 billion. Global Affairs Canada
This isn’t about replacing the United States. It’s about making sure Canada has more than one major customer.
2. The World Is Buying More Canadian Stuff
And we’re already seeing the results.
In July, Canadian merchandise exports to countries other than the United States reached a record $25.6 billion, up 7.4% from June. Those markets accounted for 33.7% of Canadian merchandise exports, with the Netherlands, China and Germany among the biggest contributors. Statistics Canada
More customers means more options for Canadian companies, more opportunities to expand and more potential for Canadian jobs.
3. Maybe We Were Giving America Too Good a Deal
For decades, geography made the United States the obvious customer for Canadian oil — and that came with a price. Canadian crude has historically sold into the U.S. at a discount of roughly US$10–20 a barrel compared with the WTI benchmark. The Trans Mountain expansion has started changing that equation by giving Canadian producers access to Pacific markets. In 2025, the average discount was about US$11.14 a barrel, while access to overseas buyers gives Canadian producers more options. Alberta Energy Regulator
Now we’re seeing the same diversification story with natural gas. LNG Canada has been sending cargoes to Japan, South Korea and the Philippines, while Canadian LNG projects are developing relationships with Asian and European buyers. Japan is particularly important because it is already one of the world’s largest LNG importers and a major potential market for Canadian energy. Natural Resources Canada
The point isn’t abandoning America. It’s having choices. When Canadian producers have multiple potential customers, they have more negotiating power, more incentive to expand production and more opportunity to bring investment and jobs back home.
4. We Finally Started Fixing Canada’s Dumbest Economic Problem
Canada has had a strange economic contradiction for decades: we can sometimes trade more easily with countries thousands of kilometres away than with another province.
Internal trade between provinces and territories reached $527 billion in 2024, equal to about 17% of Canada’s GDP. The federal government estimates that removing internal trade barriers could eventually boost GDP by as much as $200 billion, or about $5,100 per person. Statistics Canada Government of Canada
The federal Free Trade and Labour Mobility in Canada Act also came into force in January 2026, reducing certain federal barriers to the movement of goods, services and workers. Government of Canada
A bigger Canadian marketplace means more potential customers, suppliers, investment and jobs right here at home.
5. Canadians Started Putting Their Money Where Their Maple Leaf Is
The trade fight also changed how some businesses market Canadian products.
Statistics Canada found that 42.7% of retail businesses had changed their marketing practices to promote Canadian products in the second quarter of 2026. Meanwhile, 35.8% of retailers reported increased sales of Canadian products over the previous 12 months. Statistics Canada
That doesn’t mean Canadians stopped buying imports. It means Canadian products are getting more attention — and when Canadians buy from Canadian businesses, more economic activity can circulate through Canadian suppliers, employees and communities.
6. Canadians Started Rediscovering Canada
There’s another obvious place Canadian dollars can stay home: travel.
Domestic tourism spending reached $21.2 billion in the second quarter of 2026, while tourism supported about 699,000 jobs. Statistics Canada
Instead of automatically thinking about a Florida vacation, a New York shopping trip or a California getaway, Canadians have plenty of reasons to explore what is right here.
And when we go on vacation in Canada, we now reflect that we are greatful to have such a beautiful country.
7. Canadian Money Started Coming Home
Perhaps the biggest surprise is what’s happening with investment.
At Canada’s first Investment Summit in September, Canadian pension funds, insurers and institutional investors committed nearly $100 billion in new capital to Canadian assets. Canada’s major banks committed nearly $325 billion in new financing, while the summit produced nearly $500 billion in new investment commitments overall. Government of Canada
That’s money for infrastructure, energy, critical minerals, defence, technology and Canadian businesses — and the jobs that can come with it.
8. We’re Finally Building Things
Canada has spent years talking about major infrastructure while projects moved slowly through approvals.
The Major Projects Office is now working on 18 major projects and 10 transformative strategies, representing about $194 billion in investment and 337,000 jobs. The federal government says it is working to get major projects built at speeds not seen in generations. Major Projects Office
There are already concrete examples. The Matawinie graphite mine in Quebec began construction just six months after being referred to the office and is expected to create more than 1,000 jobs. Government of Canada
The goal is straightforward: approve important projects faster, build them and create Canadian jobs.
9. The World Is Knocking on Canada’s Door
Canada isn’t simply scrambling to find somewhere else to sell. Other countries increasingly want what Canada has.
In critical minerals alone, Canada announced 30 new partnerships and investments with 12 allied partners, unlocking $12.1 billion in project capital. Natural Resources Canada
And the demand goes well beyond minerals. Canada has energy, food, technology, skilled workers, infrastructure and access to major international markets.
As Mark Carney put it in a February speech, Canada is pursuing new partnerships because “we have what the world wants.” Prime Minister of Canada
10. Canada Got a Wake-Up Call
Maybe this is the biggest change of all.
For generations, Canada’s economic relationship with the United States was so important that diversification could always wait until later.
We’re trying to sell more to the world, trade more with ourselves, attract more investment, build infrastructure faster and develop more of Canada’s enormous resource base.
The trade agreements are part of that bigger shift. So are the investment deals, infrastructure projects and efforts to break down internal barriers.
But perhaps Canada needed a reminder that America is our neighbour — not our only option.
Maybe That’s the Real Irony
The trade fight has not been painless. Canadian businesses have faced tariffs, higher costs and uncertainty.
But something else happened too.
Canadians started looking inward and outward at the same time. We started asking what we could build here, what we could sell elsewhere, where we could invest our money and where we could spend our vacation dollars.
So, in an admittedly ironic sense, maybe there is a reason to say:
Thanks, Trump.