Nearly one-third of Canadians would support a merger between Canada and the United States, but only if it came with some perks.
Thirty-one percent of Canadians expressed a willingness to join the United States if it included guarantees of full citizenship and the “full conversion of the Canadian dollar and all personal financial assets” into U.S. dollars, a Jan. 16 Ipsos poll found.
Younger Canadians made up the lion’s share of the in-favour votes. Seventy-six percent of respondents open to the idea of joining the United States were under the age of 55, but it was the 18 to 34-year-olds comprising the majority of those in favour.
Forty-three percent of the youngest age bracket surveyed expressed a willingness to merge if their assets were converted to U.S. dollars, compared to 33 percent of those in the 35 to 54 age bracket and 17 percent of those 55 and older.
The latest poll results come at a time when President-elect Donald Trump’s “51st state” taunts have reached an all-time high, with the incoming president recently suggesting he’d use “economic force” to accomplish a merger between the two countries.
Trump has consistently referred to Canada as the 51st U.S. state and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau as its “governor” since Trudeau visited him in Florida in November to discuss his 25 percent tariff threat on Canadian goods.
The Separation Factor
The future of Alberta and Quebec was also a factor in how respondents voted.
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Overall, 20 percent of Canadians indicated a willingness to support their province’s annexation to the United States, if Alberta and Quebec were to become independent from Canada.
Thirty-five percent of 18 to 34-year-olds said one or both provinces will separate from Canada in the next decade compared to 27 percent in the 34 to 54 age group and 22 percent of those 55 or older.
Some respondents said they see the dissolution of Canada as unavoidable, the survey found. Twenty percent of those polled said it is “only a matter of time” before Canada and the United States merge. Eighty percent disagreed.
The 55-and-older crowd were the least in favour of a merger under any circumstances, Ipsos Public Affairs Global CEO Darrell Bricker said in a report on the survey results.
“Older Canadians express greater Canadian patriotism and agreement that they would never vote to merge the two countries,” Bricker said. “Younger Canadians are more likely to see a real risk to Canada’s independence [and] to see the merging of the two countries as inevitable.”
Eighty-seven percent of those 55 and older were resistant to the idea of joining the United States. That number dropped to 74 percent for 35 to 54-year-olds and to 77 percent for 18 to 34-year-olds.
Respondents were more evenly split on Trump’s intentions. Forty-eight percent of Canadians perceived Trump’s statements as a serious risk to Canada’s independence, while 43 percent said his remarks should not be taken seriously.
