A lot of young Canadians are willing to see Canada become the 51st state

New polling has revealed that while the vast majority of Canadians want their country to remain independent, a new poll revealed that a shocking number of younger Canadians would be okay with Canada joining the United States if certain conditions are met. 

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. 

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. 

The findings were quite worrying though it does seem Canada’s younger generations do understand the risks facing the country. 65% indicated that Donald Trump’s remarks on Canada becoming the 51st state put the country’s sovereignty in serious jeopardy. 

Concerns about Canada’s future may be why so many younger Canadians are willing to entertain the idea of becoming a part of the United States if their financial needs, along with their citizenship requirements, are met by Washington. 

Ipsos’ latest data comes on the heels of other important survey findings that revealed a lot of concerning truths about Canada becoming the 51st state. 

According to poll findings from the Canadian market research and public opinion firm Angus Reid published on January 14th, 32% of those surveyed by Angus Reid in Canada believe Trump is serious when he says he wants to make Canada the 51st state. 

On the other hand, two-thirds of Americans have paid little attention to their incoming President’s comments about adding Canada to the union. However, many Americans think that it should be up to Canadians to decide if they want to join America. 

“After a month of what was initially waved off as “silly talk”, the narrative is creating significant anxiety among Canadians, and bemusement among the few Americans actually aware of the situation,” Angus Reid reported. 

Pollsters discovered that three-quarters of the Americans they surveyed (77%) say Canadians should be the only ones making the choice about joining the United States opposed to 5% who believe they should be pressured. 

In what may have been the most worrying discovery of the survey, one percent of the American respondents indicated military force should be used to incorporate Canada as a state. 

“Trump has said he wouldn’t use military force to bring Canada into the fold, but three-in-five Canadians (62%) say they don’t trust him to hold to his word,” Angus Reid noted. 

However, it is important to point out that there was little appetite among Canadians or Americans to see Canada join the US as its 51st state. 

Americans were twice as likely as Canadians to want Canada to become a part of the union with 49% supporting the idea while Canadians were far more skeptical. Only 25% noted that they supported the idea and this was largely among conservatives.  

Angus Reid noted that “one-in-10 Canadians overall say they would vote to join the U.S. in a referendum” but added that that proportion rose to 20% among 2021 Conservative voters and dropped to 3% among Liberals and 1% among New Democrats.

Another interesting discovery made by pollsters found that even if Canada were to join the United States, not all Americans want the country to be given full statehood status along with the citizenship and voting rights that accompany statehood. 

While 52% of American respondents said that Canada should get full statehood if the country joins the US a large minority indicated that Canada should be given a status similar to America’s territories rather than its states. 

“One-quarter instead say Canada should be relegated to a reduced status like that of Puerto Rico, which does not have congressional representation and whose residents are not able to vote in presidential elections,” Angus Reid reported. 

Trump supporters are also more interested than other Americans in seeing Canada become a US state. According to the data, 42% of Trump voters supported the idea compared to 32% who opposed it. 

“Those who voted for Democratic nominee Kamala Harris provide significantly more pushback, with just nine percent supporting the idea,” Angus Reid reported.

However, it is important to point out that it’s unlike Canada would ever willingly join the United States as its 51st, though questions about this topic will probably continue over the next four years. Whether it will spoil relations between the two nations has yet to be seen.

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