After US President Donald Trump threatened Canada with steep tariffs, Monica Morelli of Montreal canceled his subscriptions at Netflix and Amazon, two giant US companies.
She also refused the trip she had planned later during the year in New Orleans.
“There is something that is now irrevocably broken, after centuries of the United States and Canada, they are allies,” said Gi Morelli, 39 years old ahead of the BBC.
The threat of import taxes, she said, plus Trump's remarks that Canada could become the 51st state in the United States, “have done something that clicks in all of us.”
Trump swore to hit a 25% tariff for both Canada and Mexico this week, citing border security problems.
He then reached a surprising deal with Mexico on Monday, resulting in the obligations delayed for 30 days in exchange for more Mexican troops at the border. Such a transaction was agreed with Canada later during the day.
For Canadians, who were very worried about the economic consequences of tariffs, the delay caused relief. But some believe the threat has caused a break in US relationships.
Data published on Wednesday by national anchor Angus Reed found that 91% of Canadians want their country to rely less in the US in the future, prefering this option to repair US Canada relations, although more than half still They wanted to try.
The opinion study also noted a major leap in national pride and found that 90% of Canadians follow this issue closely, mimicking the levels of engagement that have not been observed since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Shachi Kurl, President of Angus Reed, told the BBC that the numbers capture a “moment of unity” in the country. They also showed that the Canadians responded to the US tariffs with a shared sense of anger, she said.
As the United States is the largest customer for Canadian goods, tariffs threaten to push the Canadian economy into a recession and put thousands of jobs at risk.
In addition to tariffs, Trump has repeatedly stated (probably as a joke) that Canada should instead become an American state so as not to pay a tax to their sovereignty.
The issue gave way to jump patriotism in Canada -more specially unifying people from all political stripes at a time when the country was deeply divided into the leadership of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his policy.
Buy Canadian attitudes are pushed politicians and the general public, with buyers wanting to support local businesses and avoid buying products created in the United States in protest of potential tariffs.
Carroll Chandler, a 67-year-old teacher in retirement at the Halifax State School, said she, like Mrs. Morelli, canceled an upcoming holiday in Florida.
“I love America and Americans,” she tells the BBC. “But I don't want to be like that.”
Even with a temporary pause for tariffs, some Canadian provinces still move on with the “Buy Local” campaigns to encourage people to spend their dollars closer to home.
On Wednesday, Manitoba Prime Minister Wab Kinev said his province would spend $ 140,000 ($ 97,800; £ 78,200) on advertising – including billboards and radio – to push manitobans to contribute to the local economy.
Provinces also remove internal trade barriers within Canada and many of them call on the country to diversify their trade relations and build connections elsewhere.
Kineu described back and forth in the potential tariff war between the US and Canada as a similar to a whip.
“But through all this, to see people gather and gather around the flag, to put the pride of Manitob, above all, was very encouraging,” Kinev said.
Ms Kurl noted that relations in Canada and the United States have endured for centuries, and the two countries have long been close allies and partners on the world stage.
“It's a pretty tied -up relationship,” she said.
Canadians share not only deep economic ties with the US, but also family ties and the most long land border in the world. The US has long been the best destination to travel to Canadians.
She said it would not be easy to unravel these connections and it remains to be seen if the latest moods about Trump's tariffs signal a fundamental shift between the two sides.
Many of this, she added, can depend on how the relationship with the current US president is progressing and whether the tariff threat materializes.
As the Canadians are waiting and seeing what will happen, they said they were looking to support their own as much as they could.
“We don't run big displays, as Americans do,” said Halifax, Gia Chandler.
But Canadian patriotism is deep, she said.