Amid Trump's Tariffs, Support for Local Canadian Content Builds: 'It's Become Imperative'

Yahoo

12-03-2025

Amid a surge in Canadian nationalism after President Donald Trump sparked an escalating trade war with Canada, the Canadian entertainment industry has seen increased support for local content.
'It's always been cool to watch Canadian films at the multiplex, but now with the developing situation in the U.S., it's become imperative. If ever there was a time to embrace our Canadian stories and support our domestic film industry, it's now,' Ashleigh Rains, festival director and head programmer at the Canadian Film Fest (CFF), tells The Hollywood Reporter.
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Sonya Yokota Máté William, director of Network of Independent Canadian Exhibitors, representing indie cinemas, adds that her organization is monitoring sentiment among Canadians for a possible Hollywood movie boycott. 'I think it's all been moving very fast and we still have to see how things shake out,' Williams says. 'Cinema operators are concerned, of course, [but] at this point I see the conversation being mostly about costs rising — as they have been for a while — and what this means for their communities.'
Ever since Trump launched his trade war — which, as of Wednesday morning, includes a 25 percent tariff on most goods from Canada, a 10 percent tariff on oil and energy exports, a 25 percent tariff on Canadian steel and aluminum, which was increased to 50 percent on March 11 before going back to 25 percent following negotiations with Ontario Premier Doug Ford — and began talking about Canada becoming 'the 51st state,' Canadians have responded with a surge of nationalism that has seemingly brought the country together, even as a national election looms. Newly elected Liberal leader Mark Carney, who will take over from outgoing Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, met with Trudeau on Monday. Speaking to The Globe and Mail, he said he and the outgoing PM had a lengthy talk about how to deal with Trump's trade war. After taking over as PM, Carney is expected to quickly call an election to try and secure a mandate, with Canadians expected to go to the polls by late April or early May.
On Wednesday, Canada responded to Trump's aluminum and steel tariffs by placing 25 percent reciprocal tariffs on steel products and raising taxes on items ranging from tools to computers, sports equipment and cast-iron products.
Before Trump's election and the start of the cross-border trade war, the Liberals, who have been in power in Canada since 2015, were heading for certain defeat with the Conservatives, led by populist right-winger Pierre Poilievre, tipped to take over in Ottawa. But Trump's threats against Canada have flipped the race on its head. The Conservatives' polling advantage appears to have evaporated. Weekly tracking figures released by polling group Nanos on Tuesday showed the two parties neck and neck, with the Conservatives at 36 percent and the Liberals 35 percent. The left-wing New Democratic Party is polling third with 15 percent.
An early indication that Canadian nationalism was beginning to surge occurred in late February when Canada beat the U.S.A. in the final game of the National Hockey League's recent 4 Nations tournament after both teams played each other for the second time in six days. Tensions were already high after the first match, in Montreal, where Canadian fans booed the U.S. national anthem, protesting Trump's '51st State' comments. In the final, played in Boston, Canadian singer Chantal Kreviazuk changed the lyrics to the Canadian national anthem, singing 'that only us command' instead of 'in all of us command,' a deliberate rebuke to Trump. 'We should express our outrage in the face of any abuses of power,' Kreviazuk noted on Instagram, in a post with a photo of the adjusted lyrics.
Canada's overtime win — scored by Connor McDavid — was celebrated in the highest office, with Trudeau taking the opportunity to take a dig at the U.S. president.
'You can't take our country — and you can't take our game,' Trudeau wrote on X.
Incoming PM Carney also referenced the game, and a suitable hockey fight metaphor, in his acceptance speech at the Liberal party conference on Sunday. 'We didn't ask for this fight. But Canadians are always ready when someone else drops the gloves,' Carney said. 'So the Americans, they should make no mistake, in trade as in hockey, Canada will win.'
As Canadians begin to embrace a new nationalism, Williams sees an opportunity for indie cinemas countrywide. 'What does it mean to be Canadian? I think we all know that there is no one answer — which is why it's so important to see a [Canadian] film, read a [Canadian] book, experience [Canadian] live theater,' William insists.
The impact of the escalating cross-border tariff war has also reached local film sets, where caterers have long relied on American goods, as do Canadian consumers when shopping at local grocery stores. But Evelyne Gharibian, catering director at Toronto-based Hearty Catering says it's time to go as local as possible. 'To stand up for Canada, we're going to source locally first, and if we can't and we really want that ingredient, we will purchase it from a different country,' she tells THR.
The film caterer, which provided meals and snacks to recent Toronto shoots like Guillermo del Toro's Frankenstein and Peacock's scripted series Devil in Disguise: John Wayne Gacy, had already been buying local where possible before the current cross-border political tensions. But the tariffs battle has Gharibian and her team pivoting away from buying U.S. products as much as possible.
'What we can do is just be more creative until this whole thing sorts itself out, if it ever does, or just source from other countries,' Gharibian explains.
'Of course [the tariffs] will have an impact on us,' adds Ariadne Reid, catering manager at Toronto-based Blazing Kitchen, which provides on-set meals for local film and TV series for Netflix, The CW, Disney and CBS, among others. 'We can only absorb so much before we have to increase our prices … The answer is to buy local. And we are focusing on local products to support Canadian businesses and our economy.'
The Canadian tariffs on American goods coming north also means that provincial government-owned and -operated liquor stores across the country are taking U.S. liquor, including California wines, off of their shelves.
'As the exclusive wholesaler, American brands will no longer be available in the LCBO [Liquor Control Board of Ontario] catalogue, meaning other retailers, bars and restaurants in the province will no longer be able to restock U.S. products. This is an enormous hit to the American producers,' Ford told the media last week about U.S. alcohol products in LCBO stores being stored and only brought back for retail sale when the tariff war ends.
The rise in nationalism has even spread to the streaming world. Several Reddit threads have popped up since the tariff war began, asking the same question: 'Is there a local alternative to Netflix?'
One possible alternative for Canadians who want to cut the Netflix cord is CBC Gem, an online platform run by Canada's public broadcaster. A CBC spokesperson told THR it's too soon to point to a shift in audience for CBC Gem in response to the tariffs war, but 'early signs point to a strong year ahead.'
In a sign of the times, Canadian pay TV provider Super Channel underwent a quick rebrand, changing its logo to feature an iconic Maple Leaf with the tagline: 'Canadian, Always.'
'Now is the time to support Canadian,' Don McDonald, Super Channel president and CEO, said in a statement. 'This isn't just a logo update. It's a celebration of our Canadian identity and a love letter to our country, the true North strong and free.'
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