Canadian dollar fuels made in Canada backlash #CanadaFinance

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A weaker Canadian dollar has even more consumers jumping on the made-in-Canada bandwagon as they worry about how to stretch the limping loonie, a new survey suggests.

The EQ Bank survey, released on Thursday, said 68 per cent of Canadians believe the weaker dollar poses a risk to their personal finances in 2025, spurring 80 per cent of that group to come up with strategies to mitigate the currency’s impact by swearing off products from the United States to opting to travel within Canada.

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The bank took the pulse of 1,500 Canadian adults before and after U.S. President Donald Trump signed his executive order on tariffs. It found the share of people looking at reducing their spending on U.S. goods “to manage a weaker (Canadian dollar)” jumped to 65 per cent from 56 per cent.

And 54 per cent indicated that they would reduce discretionary spending, up from 46 per cent during the same timeframe. There was also a drop in the number of those who would consider investing in U.S. dollar-denominated assets.

The loonie has had a wild ride recently.

On Jan. 31, it closed at 68.8 cents U.S., its lowest close since early 2016, in anticipation of Trump imposing 25 per cent tariffs on Canadian and Mexican goods on Feb. 1. A last-minute reprieve — at least until early March — revived the Canadian dollar’s fortunes.

The loonie was trading around 70.5 cents U.S. on Thursday, which is still down about five per cent against the greenback since Sept. 24, when Trump’s prospects to win the election started to improve.

EQ’s survey also said the lower loonie has rerouted travel plans.

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Among those planning to travel, 62 per cent said they intended to prioritize vacationing at home versus 50 per cent in early January.

Two other new surveys also said people are rejecting U.S. products in favour of made-in-Canada goods to express their national pride and dismay at the new U.S. administration.

The numbers make the case that people are angry.

For example, 98 per cent of those surveyed by Angus Reid Group indicated they are shopping for made-in-Canada products, while 85 per cent said they planned to replace U.S. products. Four in five said they were committed to buying more local goods, while three in five said they intended to boycott U.S. products.

“For the four in five Canadians who are planning to buy more Canadian products, the grocery store appears to be ground zero for this trend,” Angus Reid Institute said in a press release about the data from a survey of more than 3,300 adults from Feb. 16 to Feb. 18.

Some of the other main targeted products include snacks and pop, clothing and alcohol.

Nearly half of Canadians also said they are cancelling or delaying travel to the U.S.

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Interac Corp. also tracked more support for local shopping, according to its survey of 1,500 Canadians conducted Feb. 6 to Feb. 9, with 79 per cent saying that buying local “feels more important” than it did a year ago. Just over half indicated “patriotism” as among their motivations to purchase made-in-Canada products.

Slightly more than half of respondents said they would be willing to pay $5 more to purchase a local product, while just over a third indicated they would be willing to shell out $10 more to buy local.

“Amid the current climate of economic uncertainty and evolving tariff threats, Canadians are looking at their spending in a new light,” Debbie Gamble, chief strategy and marketing officer at Interac, said in a press release.

“Our survey results confirm that Canadians are very intentionally exercising their spending power — choosing to support local businesses even if they may need to spend more to do so.”

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The economic uncertainty stemming from U.S. President Donald Trump’s proposed tariffs could compel Canada’s biggest banks to report provisions for credit losses that are higher than what analysts had previously expected when the lenders release their quarterly results next week.

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Today’s Posthaste was written by Gigi Suhanic, with additional reporting from Financial Post staff, The Canadian Press and Bloomberg.

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