A new survey says that Canadian views of their southern neighbours have reached an all-time low in nearly 20 years of polling history.
Pew Research, which started measuring foreign opinions of the U.S. in 2002, says that only 35 per cent of Canadians hold a positive view of America in 2020.
That figure is down from a peak of 72 per cent in 2002. Opinions of the U.S. have sharply declined during the Trump era, aside from a brief uptick in 2019 to 51 per cent.
For an even more stark figure, only one in five Canadians has confidence in Donald Trump as president, at 20 per cent.
This is a historic low in Pew Research’s data as well. The highest rating Trump received from Canadians was in 2019, when 28 per cent of respondents expressed confidence in the U.S. president.
That figure matches the lowest rating George W. Bush received, in 2007. Bush dropped in approval from a peak approval among Canadians of 59 per cent in 2002.
Barack Obama polled with consistent favorability among Canadians during his tenure, beginning his term with an 88 per cent approval and ending with 83 per cent.
Other countries highlighted among the results from Pew Research survey include Germany, which saw some of the survey’s lowest results, and South Korea, which was the only country that saw a majority expressing a favourable view towards the U.S.
26 per cent of German respondents held a favourable view of America and a dismal 10 per cent expressed confidence in Donald Trump.
In South Korea, while 59 per cent of respondents expressed favourable opinions towards the U.S., only 17 per cent were confident in the president’s leadership.
Results for the survey are based on telephone interviews conducted under the direction of Gallup. The results are based on national samples, unless otherwise noted. More details about international survey methodology and country-specific sample designs are available here.
