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A growing number of Manitobans are avoiding American-made goods and travel south of the border, a new poll found, as tough talk and threats of tariffs from the U.S. appear to be shifting consumer habits here in Manitoba.

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“With a trade war imminent and even talk in the air of the U.S. annexing Canada, significant numbers of Manitobans are now avoiding travel south of the 49th parallel and boycotting American-made goods,” Probe Research Inc. said in a release.

According to the organization, a recently conducted survey found three-quarters of Manitobans are “actively” avoiding products made in the U.S., saying they strongly agree or somewhat agree they will avoid U.S. goods.

The poll also found that more than six in 10 Manitobans have cancelled vacation plans to the U.S, up from four in 10 that said they would cancel plans to travel to the States after President Donald Trump was first elected, but before he began threatening Canada with tariffs, and to make Canada the “51st state.”

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“This represents a significant jump in the number of people avoiding U.S. travel,” Probe said.

Those who live in the city of Winnipeg, older Manitobans, and those with higher levels of formal education are most likely to boycott U.S. products and travel, according to the poll.

It also shows that those who support the provincial NDP, as well as supporters of the federal Liberals and NDP are more likely to avoid spending money on U.S. vacations and products, compared to supporters of the provincial Progressive Conservatives (PCs) and the federal Conservative party.

The majority of Manitobans polled also said they had confidence in the recent work of the provincial NDP, as premiers across Canada look to avoid tariffs, which Donald Trump continues to say will be on all Canadian goods entering the U.S.

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Six in 10 are “very or somewhat confident” in Premier Kinew’s approach, compared to slightly fewer than one-half who express confidence in how federal Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre would handle Trump’s tariffs. The poll also shows the majority of Manitobans do not have confidence in outgoing Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s abilities to deal with the current tariff threat or Donald Trump.

Probe said their poll shows quick and “significant” change in Manitobans attitudes towards our American counterparts.

“The events of the past six weeks have significantly shifted how Manitobans and Canadians feel about the United States,” their release said. “We will be digging deeper into Manitobans’ attitudes on this topic in the coming weeks, but we can already see big changes to Manitobans’ travel plans and buying habits.

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“The high proportion of people actively purchasing Canadian-made products and avoiding their American-made counterparts may significantly alter consumer behaviour and needs if tariffs take effect and remain in place long-term.”

They added in the short term, this likely means more Manitobans choosing warm travel destinations like Mexico and the Caribbean, rather than Florida, Arizona, Texas or California, as well as more people taking summer road trips within Canada rather than in nearby states.

Threats of tariffs have also led to some in Manitoba getting creative to promote buying more Canadian goods, as earlier this month Brandon resident Hashim Farooq introduced CanMade, a mobile app that allows users to scan SKU codes of groceries and other items to find out if they were produced in Canada.

The app also offers lists of food and grocery items identified with a Canadian flag if they were produced in Canada, and information about product’s origins.

— Dave Baxter is a Local Journalism Initiative reporter who works out of the Winnipeg Sun. The Local Journalism Initiative is funded by the Government of Canada.