Often portrayed as America’s happy-go-lucky neighbours to the north, with political tensions rising and an economy in decline, Canadians have formed strong opinions of several countries, many of them negative.
The data outlined below comes from a survey published by Angus Reid on June 13 and highlights the opinion of Canadians when it comes to the favourability vs. unfavourability of several countries, as well as outlining some contributing factors to these opinions.
5. India
After several years of mass Indian migration into Canada, Canadians, who once felt quite positively about India, have become substantially less approving.
This has been exasperated by recent allegations of foreign interference in Canadian elections, with India and China being the two main countries of concern, as well as by radical Sikh separatist attacks in the country.
According to the survey, 55% of Canadians now have an unfavourable view of India, and only one-third of Canadians view India positively, down 11% since March 2023.
4. Israel
Largely fueled by the Israel-Gaza conflict, Canadians increasingly view Israel unfavourably (55%), with only 29% saying they view the country in any way positively.
The favourability of Israel is largely broken down by party lines, age, and gender.
A total of 52% of Conservative voters view the country favourably, while only 22% of Liberal and 12% of NDP voters feel the same.
Additionally, only 20% of male Canadians and 14% of female Canadians between the ages of 18 and 34 view Israel positively compared with 36% and 19% of male and female 35–54-year-olds and 46% and 30% of male and female Canadians 55 and up.
3. China
Negative views of China remain at historic highs (or lows, depending on how you look at it), with 79% of Canadians viewing the country unfavourably and only 13% saying they view the country favourably. Few Canadians (8%) are undecided on the matter.
Despite allegations of foreign interference, however, views of China have remained stable over the last 4 years, likely having hit the floor of disapproval for the country.
The last time Canadians had a majority positive view of China was in 2009 after the Beijing Olympics.
2. Iran
Fewer Canadians approve of Iran than any other country, while it takes the second spot for being the most disliked by Canadians.
According to the survey, only 7% of Canadians view Iran positively, while 81% view the country negatively.
1. Russia
Amidst increasing global tensions and the war in Ukraine—not to mention a prolonged Russian hoax campaign proliferated by American media and parroted by Canadian news—approval of Russia has shrunk to just 9% in Canada.
Accordingly, 84% of Canadians have a negative view of the country—more negative than for any other country. Only 7% of Canadians have no opinion on the matter.
US–Canada relations
The survey also highlighted the lop-sided relationship between the US and Canada in terms of favourability.
While Americans view Canadians quite highly, Canadians barely have a majority positive view of America.
By all accounts, the US is Canada’s closest ally, culturally, regionally, historically, and—until 2023, when Mexico overtook Canada to become the US’s number one trade partner—economically.
However, according to the survey, while 77% of Americans view Canada favourably, only 55% of Canadians feel positively about America. In fact, Canadians favour Mexico more (60%).
Despite this trend, however, more Canadians are moving to America than ever before, perhaps indicative of a ‘pro-American drain’ in a time of financial decline and uncertainty.
