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TORONTO — Many Canadians welcome the Democratic sweep of U.S. Congress, but have mixed views on whether voters’ strong rebuke of President Donald Trump’s administration will change their attitude toward America amid the ongoing trade war.
Trump’s punishing tariffs on Canadian goods, repeated musings about making Canada the 51st state and escalating tensions that include changing the name of Lake Ontario to Lake America have had a profound impact on the relationship between the two countries.
The response from Canadians has been strong, with many avoiding cross-border travel and U.S.-made products, and reconsidering the long-standing cultural and economic ties with their American neighbours.
Juli Taylor said even though she’s happy with the midterm results, she isn’t planning to visit the United States any time soon.
“I’m Canadian, we are very proud of our country and we have been picked on a lot and we are done — and we’re absolutely overjoyed with the outcome in the States,” she said in an interview in Toronto the morning after the midterms.
Taylor said she would probably consider vacationing across the border if the tariff dispute is resolved, “but it’s not my first choice, anyways.”
“We live in a beautiful country and the best country in the world, so we need to put our money back in our own economy,” she said.
Blair Coyle, who also said he stopped visiting the United States, hopes Democratic control of the House of Representatives and the Senate will help ease tensions between the two nations.
“It means that maybe I can go to the U.S. again on a vacation,” he said, adding that he instead travelled to Europe three times this year.
Uwe Richter said while he strongly favours any political change in the United States that puts a check on Trump’s power, he still plans to boycott American products “as much as it’s possible.”
“And that will not change easily,” he said, “because what Trump has done is he has damaged the situation between our two countries and the rest of the world very, very much.”
Canada-U.S. Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc said Wednesday that Ottawa’s push to diversify trade won’t change as Democrats take control of Congress, and that recent talks with Trump’s administration have been productive.
Richter said it will take a lot of work to rebuild trust and the Canada-U.S. relationship nearly two years into Trump’s second term.
“I think there would have to be quite a lot of change in the situation between our two countries before I would put any money over there, by travelling over there,” he said at a downtown Toronto park.
For some Canadians, the Republicans’ defeat in these elections doesn’t necessarily signal a change in course.
Gerry Carlin noted that Trump has stated he would use “tremendous” veto powers if his party loses in the midterms.
“I don’t trust him, first of all, and I don’t trust the policies he’s got. I don’t know that they’re going to disappear,” he said.
“I would hope that the Democrats having power in both houses now will ease those … but we don’t know, there’s no guarantee of anything at this point,” Carlin added.
“You still got two years to go.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 5, 2026.
Sharif Hassan, The Canadian Press
