The federal government sees its handling of Trump slide from an extremely strong issue to a marginal one, according to INNOVATIVE’s tracking.
These results come from an online poll conducted between October 6th and October 27th, 2025, of 4,106 Canadian citizens, 18 years or older. This survey was sponsored by INNOVATIVE Research Group Inc. and weighted to n=2,500 based on age, gender, region, education, and self-reported past federal vote to ensure the overall sample reflects the population according to Census data.
Approval of the federal government’s handling of Trump-related issues is at this year’s all-time low (33%), having returned to January’s pre-Carney levels. Net approval is at +6, 6 points lower than in September and marginally lower than in January when Trump was inaugurated and Trudeau was still Prime Minister. Notably, a larger share said “don’t know” this month (24%) than in September (8%). The generational gap in government support on this issue is striking, with those over 55 (40%) being 12 points more likely to approve of the government’s handling of Trump than those 18-34 (28%) or 35-54 (28%).
Overall, Canadians continue to give U.S.-Canada relations a lot of attention. Attention to U.S.-Canada relations is unchanged since September, but is down 8 points since March, with 7-in-10 (69%) saying they are closely following the news on the relationship. This is the lowest level of attention since Trump’s inauguration in January, 2025. Despite the moderate decline in attention, the negative response of Canadians to Trump remains steady: 3-in-5 Canadians feel at least somewhat afraid, and a plurality (47%) ‘mostly afraid’.
Open-ended responses among those who approve of the federal government’s response to Trump’s presidency show that over 2-in-5 (43%) approve because of government’s diplomacy in handling the Trump government (43%). A further 12% support the government for standing up to Trump. Among those who disapprove of the federal government’s response to Trump, 27% think Carney should take a stronger stance and stand up to Trump, 20% think that Carney and the federal government are weak or inexperienced, and 18% feel there is no plan.
During the election in April, the Carney Liberals gained great advantage from their extremely strong numbers, especially among those over 55 and in big-city Canada, on the Trump issue. While Canadians continue to say they are paying close attention to issues arising from the U.S.-Canada relationship, the Liberal edge on that issue has faded dramatically. It is still a net positive for them, but only a very small one.
As opposition parties consider how to react to the budget, a key consideration will be whether they can expect to gain seats compared to the last election. The decline in Trump momentum for the government suggests the opposition parties could do better now than then.
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