Should Canada increase trade with China? The latest Nanos poll reveals what voters think

Flags of Canada and China are shown in Beijing, China, Monday, Nov. 12, 2018. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jason Lee/Pool Photo via AP)

With Canada facing a fraught trade relationship with the U.S., a new survey suggests there’s growing support for turning the country’s sights to China.

The Nanos Research poll, conducted for CTV News and The Globe and Mail, found Canadians are four times more likely to want increased trade with the Asian superpower compared to two years ago.

“About two in five Canadians think Canada should keep its trade relationship at the current level,” said Nik Nanos, chief data scientist with Nanos Research, in a statement.

“However, the appetite to increase its current trade relationship with China has grown.”

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Overall, 31 per cent of respondents said they think Canada should expand its trade relationship with China, up from just seven per cent in June 2023 and five per cent in November 2022.

By comparison, 20 per cent said Canada should decrease trade with China, down from 55 per cent in June 2023 and 61 per cent in November 2022.

The survey did not ask respondents whether their views were affected by the ongoing trade war instigated by U.S. President Donald Trump.

There were some differences among demographics, including political leanings.

Nanos Research found Green Party supporters were the most likely to support growing the trade relationship (45.2 per cent), followed by NDP supporters (35.7 per cent), Bloc Québécois supporters (33.5 per cent), Liberal supporters (32.4 per cent) and Conservative supporters (27.1 per cent).

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“Although similar proportions of both committed Conservative voters and committed Liberal voters prefer maintaining our current trade relationship with China, committed Conservative voters are more than twice likely to favor decreasing its current relationship trade with China,” Nanos said.

Conservative supporters were the most likely to want less trade with China (28.9 per cent), followed by Bloc supporters (13.4 per cent), NDP supporters (11.6 per cent), Liberal supporters (11.5 per cent) and Green supporters (7.7 per cent).

Men were also more likely to support increased trade with China than women, at 37.8 per cent to 28.7 per cent, respectively. Geographically, respondents in Quebec were the most likely to support an expanded trade relationship (36.2 per cent) while those in Alberta were the least likely (24.8 per cent).

The survey was conducted online and over the phone from April 21 to 23, among 1,307 randomly selected adults. The results have a margin of error of plus or minus 2.7 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.