Trade and investment viewed by Canadians as a greater priority as Canada deepens Asian ties

Prime Minister Mark Carney begins a circuit of the globe this week to continue efforts to diversify Canada’s trade beyond the United States. The trip will conclude with Carney’s second visit to China in 2026 as he attends the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Economic Leaders’ Meeting in Shenzhen. Prior to Carney’s January visit earlier this year, it had been more than eight years since a Canadian prime minister visited China, providing further evidence of the shift in Canada’s international priorities in the wake of the deterioration of the Canada-U.S. relationship.

New data from the non-profit Angus Reid Institute in partnership with the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada finds Carney’s strengthening of economic ties across the Pacific coinciding with changing international assessments from Canadians. A majority say developing stronger relationships with China (69%), India (61%), Japan (87%), and South Korea (76%) is important as Canada looks to reduce its dependence on the U.S. And three-in-five (58%) say they’ve become more supportive of trade with the Northeast Asian economies of Japan, South Korea and Taiwan in response to U.S.-Canada trade tensions; half (49%) say the same of Southeast Asia.

The support for increasing trade with China (41% are more supportive) and India (36% are more supportive) is less pronounced, but it is increasing. Additionally, in November 2024, 15 per cent of Canadians said they had a favourable view of China. After two years of Trump, that figure has more than doubled, to 38 per cent. Canadians are warming to China, but still more than half (53%) say they view the country unfavourably. Canadians’ views of India have also become more positive in the past two years with 36 per cent saying they have a favourable view of the world’s most populous country, an increase of 10 points from 2024.

There is much more positivity from Canadians towards other economies in the Indo-Pacific. Approaching nine-in-ten (88%) say they view Japan favourably and three-quarters (76%) have positive views of South Korea. Seven-in-ten (71%) Canadians view Southeast Asia favourably.

Despite positive views of Southeast Asia and efforts by Ottawa to connect Canada to the region, few believe it’s an area where Canada should be developing closer trade ties (10%) compared to other global regions. There are also few that say the same of China (14%) or India (5%). Those regions are far behind the European Union (58%) as the preferred region for a closer trading relationship, and trail Mexico (24%), the United Kingdom (22%), and the U.S. (20%).

The increased positivity towards China and India comes as Canadians reorder their priorities with the world’s two most populous countries. In 2021, in the wake of a diplomatic break between Canada and China over the saga involving Meng Wanzhou, Michael Kovrig, and Michael Spavor, Canadians by a three-to-one margin said “human rights and the rule of law” should be Canada’s focus when dealing with China (77%) rather than trade (23%). Now, a majority (57%) believe economics should be prioritized over those former concerns. 

There has been similar movement when it comes to India, as Carney and the federal Liberals have begun to repair ties severed by allegations levelled by Carney’s predecessor of India’s involvement in the killing of a Canadian Sikh leader. In 2024, 38 per cent believe trade and investment should be more important in Canada’s relationship with India while three-in-five (62%) believed it should human rights and the rule of law. Now a majority (56%) of Canadians believe trade and investment with India should be prioritized over the latter.

More Key Findings:

• Beyond Europe, Canadians are looking to Asia as U.S. tensions reshape their view of trade partners; 77 per cent say promoting trade, investment, and supply chain resilience should be a priority as Canada engages with Asia, while 74 per cent say Canada would benefit from more investment from Asia.
   
• Canadians are much more likely to report favourable views of Japan (88%), the United Kingdom (79%), the European Union (78%), South Korea (76%), Mexico (75%) and Southeast Asia (71%) than towards China (38%), India (36%), or the U.S. (25%).
   
• Canadians are more likely to say it’s “extremely important” for Canada to build relationships with Japan (36%), South Korea (24%), China (24%), and Taiwan (21%) than Singapore (18%), Indonesia (13%), or Vietnam (12%) as Canada looks to reduce its dependence on the United States.
   

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