People participate in a rally on Parliament Hill in Ottawa in March. Donald Trump’s return to the U.S. presidency sparked a new wave of Canadian nationalism.Justin Tang/The Canadian Press

Remember how deeply divided Canada was over building new oil pipelines last year? Not any more.

Two years ago, politicians of all stripes felt the public would never support substantially increased military spending? Now, most do.

Free trade is almost a wistful notion from a happier past; economic nationalism is in. The pro-immigration consensus, part of this country’s social fabric for decades, is suddenly gone. Now, the majority feel too many people are coming to Canada.

It turns out that in 2025, there have been a lot of things on which Canadians agree.

Across party lines and among a broad swath of the public, economic issues are priorities and other things – apart from Canadian sovereignty and waving the flag – have largely shifted down the list of priorities. Projects, pipelines and diversifying trade are on top; environment and social issues, less so. There is a new consensus.

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“It’s a pretty stark policy shift,” said Dan Arnold, chief strategy officer with Pollara Strategic Insights and a former Liberal pollster during Justin Trudeau’s tenure.

U.S. President Donald Trump’s second term in the White House famously upended politics in this country in 2025, suddenly turning Canadian sovereignty and reliance on the United States into immediate, emotional and apparently existential questions.

Yet, Mr. Trump’s return was the latest in a series of shocks that have shifted public opinion like tectonic plates: the COVID-19 pandemic, the inflation that followed and the disruption of Trump 2.0.

Hard-headed economic interests and making ends meet matter to Canadians now. So do national interest and nationalist sentiment. Perhaps Mr. Trump’s brusque treatment of Canadians was a coup de grâce that helped cement a more broadly shared sense of some of the big things that are important.

But that doesn’t mean unity. Federal politics is still polarized, split fairly evenly between Liberals and Conservative supporters – at least outside of Quebec, where the Bloc Québécois still holds substantial support. There is a cleavage of priorities between younger and older Canadians, between those struggling to buy a home and raise a family and those who own homes and have retirement funds. Party support has flipped among age groups, with Conservatives strengthened among younger groups and the Liberals now winning 55-and-older voters.

But even in party politics, there is........

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