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Some say the tit-for-tat response is not enough to redress the situation for Canadian businesses. Instead, they say, Canada, must fix its own commercial policies to remove obstacles and impediments to growth.
“We are ill-prepared as a country to band together and address these issues as a whole,” said Steven Hayward, president and CEO of Project X, a Toronto-based boutique advisory and business consulting firm.
“Canada is in this situation because for too long we have relied on the U.S. for everything. We have not divested our economy. We do not trade internally. We are simply in a very weak position, mostly due to our own doing. For us to now put tariffs on American goods would be catastrophic,” said Stuart Dewar, president and CEO at Splashdown Integrated Exteriors, adding Canada has too many regulations, “in all business sectors,” stifling business growth.
“Current government does nothing to assist manufacturers. It seems hell bent on removing manufacturing from Canada. This new tariff situation will make it worse, but it was already poor,” said Dan Evans, president of consumer manufacturer TUFX-Fort.
“The sooner we cut our umbilical cord from the U.S., the better off we will be. We need to first of all support our own Canadian industries as much as possible. Break down inter-province trade barriers and work together,” said Deanna Geisheimer at BC-based Art Works.
But CEOs’ confidence in the Canadian government’s ability to navigate the current geopolitical and economic environment is low, at 4.2 out of 10, where 1 is “no confidence” and 10 is “absolute confidence.”
“Canada is in desperate need of a new federal government. Once an election is held, then Canada needs to come to the bargaining table with the Trump administration,” said Arthur Salzer, CEO of Northland Wealth, echoing many others who blamed federal and provincial leadership for Canada’s vulnerability.
When asked which party they believe would have greater ability to navigate this situation, the majority (55 percent) said the Conservative Party and 36 percent chose the Liberal Party.
A ‘TEMPORARY’ SITUATION
Still, some remain optimistic that this situation is only temporary.
“I think that due to the tariffs and the threat of tariffs, business conditions now and in the next few months will be dire, but if the government steps up with a solid stimulus package or supports, we can rally to better conditions,” said the CEO of a nonprofit organization.
“I can only hope we have a change in federal government, and they focus on business growth, which will get the economy going. It sounds like Poilievre wants to encourage business growth,” said Darrell Scrivens, president and CEO of Central Auto Parts Distributors in Alberta.
Starfish Medical CEO Scott Phillips has hope this will resolve soon: “I believe the tariffs situation will be clearer [a year from now]. Government services in the U.S. will have stabilized. The investment environment in our industry will be somewhat better.”
“[The] uncertainty should reduce over time—Canadian federal election, U.S. mid-terms will be a factor,” said Derek Dobson, CEO of CAAT Pension Plan.
“Canada can endure this trade war better than we think,” said Terry Gillis, CEO of talent management consultancy Ahria Consulting.
Please note: We will be diving into the data by industry—if you would like an in-depth look, please request a report at research@chiefexecutivegroup.com.
About Chief Executive Group’s Canada CEO Confidence Index
Chief Executive Group polls hundreds of C-Suite and board members throughout the year to build our CxO Confidence Index series. The Index provides insightful data into business trends and what will likely shape strategies for the year ahead. In August 2024, we expanded the series to Canada. Our March 2025 edition of the Canada CEO survey was the fourth one in the series. It received 299 responses.
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