Canadians Have 'sense Of Superiority' Over Americans, Poll Finds

As the United States celebrates its 250th anniversary of declaring independence of our common mother country, Canadians remain uneasy siblings with Americans, a new poll suggests.

A new Postmedia-Leger poll shows 64 per cent of us think we’re nicer than Americans; another 54 per cent think we’re more cultured. Two-thirds find Americans more arrogant, while 82 per cent think we’re more admired in the world.

“From the data I would say we have a sense of superiority over Americans in a number of areas — Canadians believe they are more humble, cultured and generally nicer,” said Andrew Enns, Leger’s executive vice-president.

“I’d add that the majority of Canadians are of a view that the world likes us better.”

The poll found Canadians have stronger, generally more negative views about Americans versus Americans about us. More than a third of Canadians say they do not admire the U.S. at all.

The poll, conducted on both sides of the border, found two-thirds of Canadians associate Americans with arrogance while only nine per cent of our U.S. neighbours would say the same of us.

While Canadians are more likely to say this country offers better opportunities for someone willing to work hard (37 per cent), over one fifth of us (22 per cent) said the opportunities in the United States are better, and 32 per cent said the two countries are about the same in that respect, according to the new poll.

“If this poll was exclusively conducted in Western Canada, the results would have been very different,” said Donald Abelson, a professor of political science at McMaster University whose focus is on American politics. “Western Canadians tend to admire that spirit of American entrepreneurship.”

Same goes for richer Canadians, he said.

“People who are wealthier in Canada and resent paying the kind of taxes that they do here often look to the United States,” Abelson said. “It’s a very, very familiar move.”

A third of American respondents (33 per cent) said the U.S. offered better opportunities for those willing to work hard, while 16 per cent of them chose Canada in that regard, and 31 per cent indicated they see no difference.

The poll comes in the wake of the July 1 deadline for the U.S., Canada, and Mexico to review and confirm their intentions regarding the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA). The U.S. declined to agree to renew the deal in its “current form.”

When Donald Trump became president in 2017 and again in 2024, “there were a lot of Canadians who viewed the United States as being incredibly arrogant given the number of times the Trump administration put a target on our back, the number of times that offensive comments were made to our leaders, most recently about becoming the 51st state of the United States,” said Abelson.

“I think Canadians are generally seeing the Americans as being more aggressive, more arrogant in the belief that they can do anything they want without any kind of repercussions.”

There’s a “silver lining” to Trump’s offensive remarks, Abelson said.

“He really gave us a wakeup call to kind of lull us out of this complacency that we receive preferential treatment from the United States, that we have this special bond, this special relationship,” he said. “And we don’t. Things have changed that dramatically.”

Lisa Raitt, a former Conservative MP who served in Stephen Harper’s cabinet, says anti-Americanism is not dissipating in Canada.

“In fact, it’s kind of entrenching itself,” said Raitt, who Prime Minister Mark Carney appointed to the Advisory Committee on Canada-U.S. Economic Relations.

On the Canadians who see better opportunities south of the border, Raitt blames social media for portraying an “idealized look of day-to-day life in the United States because influencers are putting their best foot forward, not their worst foot forward, and I can see why people think that life is better — there’s more opportunity for you on the other side.”

Lower taxes, cheaper food and houses in the U.S. “used to all be countered with yes, but we have excellent health care,” Raitt said. “But we don’t anymore, so that kind of flies out the window.”

A slim majority of Canadians (51 per cent) said the two populations are not similar, while 44 per cent said they are.

The vast majority of Americans (69 per cent) said they’re similar to Canadians, with only 20 per cent responding that they are not.

Thirty-four per cent of Canadians told the pollster they do not admire the U.S. at all, while 29 per cent said they somewhat admire it, and another 26 per cent indicated they admire it “a little.”

Admiration is higher among Conservative Canadian voters, with 21 per cent of Tories indicating they admire the U.S. “a great deal,” and 38 per cent saying they admire Americans “somewhat.”

Meanwhile, 38 per cent of Liberals, 60 per cent of New Democrats and 46 per cent of Bloc voters expressed no admiration at all for our neighbours to the south.

Canadians’ disdain for their neighbour isn’t necessarily reciprocated. A full 32 per cent of Americans polled said Canadians are nicer. Another 23 per cent of them said Canadians are more cultured.

“Everybody in the world says that we’re polite, and we are. We’re extremely polite,” Raitt said. “We’re very nice to you, but you push us too far and you’re going to see us turn into that Canada goose.”

While she’s pleased to see Americans think we’re nice, Raitt hopes that doesn’t mean Canadians are seen as a soft touch in Washington.

“Yes, they trust us, but do they also think they can beat us in business, kind of thing? Are we naïve?” Raitt said.

“I don’t think they think we’re very sharp,” she said. “It’s almost like we’re their Golden Retriever. We’re the ones that will hold the flashlight when you’re robbing us.”

Majorities in both countries – 56 per cent of Canadians and 54 per cent of Americans — described the relationship between the two nations as neighbourly.

But Americans are more likely to describe the two countries as close friends, with 20 per cent of them settling on that definition, while only eight per cent of Canadians did the same. And 13 per cent of Canadians see the relationship as a rivalry, versus just six per cent of Americans.

Canadians believe this country has the better global reputation (82 per cent) while only six per cent said the same of the U.S.

In the U.S., Canada came out ahead on that measure (43 per cent), with only 26 per cent of Americans indicating their country has the better reputation.

“Keep in mind the U.S. is embroiled in a pretty active war,” Enns said of the U.S. conflict with Iran.

“Even the American public is cognizant of some of the reputational challenges that some of Mr. Trump’s policies are creating.”

Most Canadians (56 per cent) said they would trust a stranger from the U.S. “about the same” as they would trust a Canadian stranger. The poll also found that four per cent would trust and American stranger more, while 28 per cent indicated they would trust an American stranger less.

Meanwhile, 62 per cent of Americans said they would trust a Canadian stranger about the same as one of their own, and 17 per cent said they would trust a Canadian stranger more than one of the homegrown variety. Six per cent said they would trust a Canadian stranger less than an American one.

“There’s probably a perception amongst Americans that we’re probably generally a little bit of a safer society,” Enns said. “Certainly, we don’t dominate the headlines with mass shootings.”

The online survey, conducted from June 19 to 21, polled 1,528 Canadians and 1,015 Americans. A margin of error cannot be associated with a non-probability sample in a panel survey. A probability sample of this size would yield a margin of error no greater than plus or minus 2.5 per cent, 19 times out of 20, for the Canadian sample and plus or minus 3.1 per cent, 19 times out of 20, for the American sample.

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