How Economically Patriotic Are You?

New polling shows most Canadians are willing to pay more for local goods—but reveals a sharp partisan divide.

New federal polling from Pallas Data explores Canadians’ attitudes toward economic patriotism—their willingness to sacrifice prosperity or comfort in favour of national economic independence.

This marks the first in a series of planned surveys on the topic by Pallas, and it comes at a timely moment, given the tense state of trade negotiations with the Trump administration.

The results reveal generational, regional, and especially striking partisan divides.

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According to Pallas’ methodology, the Economic Patriotism Index (EPI) is based on four core questions assessing whether Canadians are willing to:

• Pay more for gasoline and imported food if it helps protect Canadian jobs

• Pay more for Canadian-made products compared to identical foreign alternatives

• Prioritize economic independence over maximum economic growth

• Accept risking lower living standards to preserve Canada’s economic independence

Each respondent was assigned an index score based on their level of agreement with these statements. Strong disagreement earned -2 points, while strong agreement earned +2. Neutral or “don’t know” responses were not scored. Final scores were grouped into three categories:

• Low Economic Patriotism: -8 to -3

• Moderate Economic Patriotism: -2 to +2

• High Economic Patriotism: +3 to +8

Nationally, 34% of respondents fell into the “High” category, 41% “Moderate”, and 24% “Low.”

Let’s begin with how Canadians scored on the index by age and gender.

Gender differences were relatively modest: 29% of men scored low, compared to just 20% of women. Age, however, showed a clear trend. Economic patriotism increases steadily with age: only 28% of voters aged 18–34 scored “High”, versus 47% among those aged 65+. Meanwhile, one-third of younger voters were categorized as “Low.”

Regional differences were less pronounced, though British Columbia stood out with the highest share of “High” patriotism. Alberta and the Prairies (MB/SK) lagged behind the national average.