Canada's reliance on the U.S. has deepened over several decades, according to experts.
Candid Conversation: Pierre Poilievre, the Conservative leader, repeatedly accuses the Liberal government of tethering Canada to the US economy. But it's more complicated than that, say political scientists.
Since the late 1980s, a broad trend towards continental economic integration has been underway. This phenomenon began when Progressive Conservative prime minister Brian Mulroney sought to secure more stable access to the U.S. market by pursuing a free-trade agreement with the States.
The 1988 election campaign was all about this free trade agreement and its implications for Canadian industry, society, and culture. The agreement eventually expanded to include Mexico, forming the basis of trade among the three countries under various Liberal and Conservative governments, right up to today.
According to Greg Anderson, a political science professor at the University of Alberta, Poilievre has some valid criticisms of the Liberal government's lackluster economic growth record, particularly compared to the United States. Anderson remarks, "It really did seem like for a while, Canada couldn't get anything built."
President Trump's tariffs and annexation talk fueled interest in developing a self-reliant Canadian economy. Both Conservatives and Liberals made promises to fund projects that would ease transport of resources across Canada and to foreign markets.
But Blayne Haggart, a political science professor at Brock University, questions the Trudeau government's failure to anticipate Trump's administration's trade-related pressure. "For the past four years, pretty much everybody was asleep at the wheel," Haggart laments.
Reducing Canada's dependence on the United States has proven challenging. Commodities from different regions flow south to the States due to the sheer size of the consumer market and its gravitational pull. Interprovincial trade barriers have been equally tough to dismantle, with Anderson remarking, "These are really hard things to knock down."
Yet, both professors agree that much needs to be done to strengthen Canada's economy as its closest ally becomes increasingly unpredictable. However, the pathway to independence may involve some tough decisions, according to Haggart. "I wonder what kind of hard choices Canadians might have to make," he muses.
This analysis, first published in May 2025, highlights the complexities of Canada's economic relationship with the United States, and the debates surrounding trade policies that continue to shape the national discourse.
- Pierre Poilievre, the Conservative leader, criticizes the Liberal government for tying Canada's economy to the US, a criticism political scientists find more nuanced.
- The free-trade agreement between Canada and the US, initially proposed by Progressive Conservative prime minister Brian Mulroney, has been a contentious issue in politics, affecting industry, society, and culture since the late 1980s.
- Under various Liberal and Conservative governments, this agreement has expanded to include Mexico, forming a trade basis among the three countries.
- Greg Anderson, a political science professor at the University of Alberta, notes Poilievre's valid criticisms of the Liberal government's economic growth record, particularly when compared to the US.
- President Trump's tariffs and annexation talk sparked interest in building a self-reliant Canadian economy, leading to promises from both Conservatives and Liberals to fund projects easing resource transport domestically and abroad.
- However, Blayne Haggart, a political science professor at Brock University, questions the Trudeau government's failure to anticipate Trump's administration's trade-related pressure, expressing concerns about the past four years of inaction in policy-and-legislation and general-news.
