'No Way Eh': Canadians reject the idea of becoming the 51st state
- What recent polling revealed
- No interest in Canada to join the US
- Four in five Canadians oppose the idea
- Why Canadians don’t want to join the US
- Another important reason
- Polling on Trump’s annexation threats
- Canada can join the US if Canadians want to
- Most Canadians don’t want to become a state
- Growing worry about Trump’s annexation threat
- What Americans think
- Canadians don't want to become Americans
- Canadians opposition was higher than American opposition
- Some Canadians did support the idea at the time
- Most Canadians want to stay independent
- Younger Canadians will entertain the idea
- Concerned about Trump’s comments
- Will this question continue to affect bilateral relations?
- A lot has changed in five months
What recent polling revealed

US President Donald Trump has repeatedly stated that he wants Canada to become the 51st US state. However, Canadians aren't too keen on the idea of joining the United States, according to recent polling data.
No interest in Canada to join the US

In March 2025, findings from one of the latest polls surveying Canadians about their desire to become an American state were released. Conducted by the market research firm Leger on behalf of City News, the poll showed where Canadians stood on the issue: they weren't interested at all.
Four in five Canadians oppose the idea

City News reported that Leger found four in five of the 1,504 Canadians it surveyed “strongly oppose the idea of joining their neighbours to the south." 78% also told pollsters that they were concerned about the rhetoric coming from the President of the United States at that time.
Why Canadians don’t want to join the US

The top reasons for the opposition toward becoming the 51st state included: Canadian identity, culture, and sovereignty at 81%, the differences in healthcare systems at 68%, and concerns about gun control at 60%.
Another important reason

Worries about politics and governance in the United States just missed the top 3 reasons for opposition to Canada becoming the 51st by two points. 58% of those surveyed said they had concerns. However, this data was in line with other findings regarding American thoughts on Canada becoming a US state.
Polling on Trump’s annexation threats

Polling from the Angus Reid Institute published on March 12th found that despite Trump’s increasingly worrying rhetoric about annexing Canada and making the country the 51st state, 60% of Americans had no interest in Canada joining the US.
Canada can join the US if Canadians want to

A further 32% of Americans polled said that they were interested in Canada joining the United States, but only if Canadians wanted to become a state, while 6% thought the US should annex Canada via economic or political pressure, and 2% by military force.
Most Canadians don’t want to become a state

Angus Reid also found, for a second time in 2025, that 9-in-10 Canadians (90%) said that they would vote ‘no’ in any referendum on joining the United States, while a slim minority (10%) told the public opinion and market research firm they would vote ‘yes’.
Growing worry about Trump’s annexation threat

“Amid continued threats, more than half of Canadians now think Trump is serious about this (54%). In January, just one in three (32%) felt this way,” Angus Reid explained in a report on its polling at the time, which was conducted between February 27th and March 3rd.
What Americans think

“South of the border, there has also been an increase in the proportion who feel Trump is serious, but to a smaller extent, rising from 22 to 34 percent,” Angus Reid added. The poll findings came amid other earlier polling that showed neither Canadians nor Americans want Canada to join the United States.
Canadians don't want to become Americans

According to a binational survey conducted by YouGov and published on January 31st, 2025, a significant majority of Canadians and a substantial portion of Americans were against Canada becoming incorporated as a new US state at that time.
Canadians opposition was higher than American opposition

YouGov surveyed just over 1,000 Canadians and Americans throughout January and found that 77% of Canadians strongly or somewhat opposed the idea of Canada becoming a state while 42% of Americans thought the same.
Some Canadians did support the idea at the time

One-fifth of Canadians (15%) supported US statehood, which was a lot but still far less than the 36% of Americans who said they supported the idea. These results matched other poll findings from the same period.
Most Canadians want to stay independent

According to an Ipsos poll published on January 16th, 80% of the 1,000 Canadians that the polling firm surveyed said they would never vote for Canada to become part of the U.S., including 77% of those aged 18 to 35.
Younger Canadians will entertain the idea

However, 43% of those aged 18 to 35 did say they would vote for Canada to become a part of the United States if Washington offered full US citizenship and guaranteed a full conversion of the Canadian dollar and all personal assets into the US dollar.
Concerned about Trump’s comments

The findings were quite worrying. Canada’s younger generations did seem to understand the risks facing their country. 65% indicated that Donald Trump’s remarks on Canada becoming the 51st state put the country’s sovereignty in serious jeopardy, yet they were most likely to support the idea of Canada becoming the 51st US state.
Will this question continue to affect bilateral relations?

However, it is important to point out that it’s unlikely Canada would ever willingly join the United States as its 51st state, though questions about this topic will probably continue over the next four years.
A lot has changed in five months

In the five months since the last polling on the topic in March, much has changed. President Trump toned down his rhetoric regarding his desire to see Canada become the 51st US state following the resignation of PM Justin Trudeau and the rise of Mark Carney, who won a general election in late April to give the Liberal Party a historic fourth term.