A plurality of Canadians support taxing American tech giants, but net approval of the federal government on Trump-related issues sinks for the first time, according to INNOVATIVE’s tracking.
These results are based on an online survey conducted between July 4 and July 28, 2025, among 3,732 Canadian citizens aged 18 or older. This survey was sponsored by INNOVATIVE research group Inc. and weighted to n=2,000 based on age, gender, region, education, and self-reported federal past vote to ensure that the overall sample’s composition reflects that of the actual population according to Census data.
48% of Canadians think that taxing US tech giants is a good idea, 21% are undecided, and 32% think it is a bad idea. Carney’s decision to suspend it divided opinions, however. Only 30% of Canadians say Carney was right to suspend the tax, while 26% say he was wrong to do so, and 18% felt the tax should never have been introduced. Views on the suspension also split partisan lines, with 40% of liberals, 30% of Conservatives, and 23% of NDP supporters agreeing with the suspension.
Interest in the Canada-U.S. relationship remains high, with three in four Canadians closely following the issue. However, the number of Canadians who have read, seen, or heard (RSH) something about Prime Minister Carney drops to the lowest since he was elected (42%). Among those who have heard something about the PM, the strongest cited driver of low favourability is caving to Trump on the digital tax (7% mentioned it), and Carney’s net favourability (now at 12%) is 19 points lower than in June.
The federal government’s approval on handling Trump-related issues further drops 5 points in July to 39%, with a 11-point drop in net approval since the previous month. Among the 23% who disapprove, the common perception is that Carney and the Federal government are weak or inexperienced (19%) and should take a stronger stance, or that they are not doing enough (19%).
This may be early signs of the forthcoming end of the Carney government’s honeymoon period. We see a negative trend in Canadian’s perception on of the government on a file they are paying relatively close attention to. (It is a hard subject to avoid, no matter what your media diet is.) We do not, however, see a negative impact on the government’s net satisfaction. Moving into the long weekend we will have to wait and see if this is because Canadians have more important concerns with the government, or if this is the beginning of an erosion in the government’s political position.
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