If you’ve been following the news lately, you’ve probably noticed that Canada-U.S. relations have hit a serious rough patch.
Between President Donald Trump’s threats to make Canada the “51st state,” an ongoing trade war, and Prime Minister Mark Carney’s pointed jabs at the World Economic Forum in Davos, tensions between the two nations are running high.
Whether things will actually boil over remains to be seen, but with the U.S. recently invading Venezuela and continuing to pursue the acquisition of Greenland, many Canadians are wondering if military conflict with their southern neighbour could be on the horizon.
That possibility seems especially real in Quebec, where a new survey reveals some eye-opening attitudes about national defence. According to a recent poll conducted by GEF Consulting Inc., nearly half of Quebecers (46.67%) said they would not personally volunteer to defend Canada in the event of a U.S. attack, making for one of the highest reluctance rates among provinces polled.
Quebec leads the country in defence hesitation
The GEF Consulting survey, which polled 1,000 Canadians, found that Quebec had the highest percentage of residents who said “no way” when asked if they’d volunteer to fight against a U.S. invasion.
That 46.67% figure puts Quebec ahead of Alberta (42.11%), Ontario (41.1%), and British Columbia (33.3%) in terms of reluctance to take up arms for Canada.
Meanwhile, 40% of Quebecers said they would support a draft in the event of an American invasion.
Could Canada actually arm itself?
Beyond personal willingness to fight, Quebecers are also the most concerned about Canada’s ability to actually arm itself in time.
When asked about potential obstacles to mounting an effective defence against one of the world’s largest militaries, 41% of Quebec respondents cited “procurement paralysis” — the inability to buy necessary military hardware quickly and efficiently — as their biggest worry.
That concern outpaced other provinces, with Ontario at 40.4%, B.C. at 36.61%, and Alberta at 36.04%.
Who would help Canada?
The survey also asked Quebecers which countries they think would come to Canada’s aid in a conflict with the U.S.
France topped the list at 18.08%, followed by the United Kingdom (17.16%), Australia (10.98%), and Germany (10.07%). New Zealand and Denmark tied at 8.92%.
Canadians see invasion as increasingly possible
The Quebec-specific findings are part of broader national trends showing growing unease about U.S. military aggression.
Overall, 72.4% of Canadians now believe a U.S. invasion is at least possible, marking a 6.1% increase since October 2025. More strikingly, 57.9% of Canadians feel an invasion became more likely after the U.S. invaded Venezuela.
When asked if Canada’s current military could actually defend against an American attack, a combined 79.3% of Canadians said either “no” (54.7%) or “maybe” (24.6%).
Perhaps most tellingly, when asked how much they’d personally pay in additional taxes for proper national defence against the U.S., 40.1% of Canadians chose “$0 — we’ll just apologize.”
Another 29.2% said they’d pay $100 per year, while only 11.7% selected the “$1,000+ per year” option labelled as the “proud patriot” tier.
