The Charging Bull statue, also known as the Wall St. Bull, in the financial district of New York City in August, 2018.BRENDAN MCDERMID/Reuters
Canadians have spent more than a year pulling away from the United States in terms of travel, alcohol and other consumer purchases as a trade dispute sours the relationship between the two countries. But there’s one place where it has proven much harder to boycott the U.S.: our investment portfolios.
When the trade war started in early 2025, there were signs Canadian investors were retreating from U.S. stocks. Canadian-listed U.S. equity ETFs attracted $7.8-billion in January, 2025, but then fell to $2.3-billion in February and $2-billion in March, according to Morningstar.
But even as the trade conflict intensified, Canadians added $61-billion in U.S. securities during the first half of 2025, according to Statistics Canada. As recently as June, 2026, U.S. equities remained one of the leading categories for Canadian ETF inflows.
With the trade war escalating again after negotiations collapsed late last week, financial planners say they don’t expect Canadians to suddenly abandon American investments – and nor should they. Unlike swapping California wine for a bottle from Ontario, cutting the United States out of an investment portfolio can have consequences for diversification and, ultimately, for someone’s nest egg.
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“Consumer behaviour and investment behaviour are two different things,” said Simon Wong, certified financial planner and head of financial planning at Blueprint Financial. While Canadians may decide to support domestic businesses with their everyday purchases, “an investment portfolio has a very different job.”
It’s meant to generate returns and manage risk, he said. “One of the biggest reasons why we haven’t seen many Canadians pull away from U.S. investments is simply that the U.S. market provides exposure that’s very difficult to replicate in Canada.”
Investors who want to take a stand in the trade war face a challenge, given that the Canadian stock market is relatively small and concentrated. Financial and energy companies make up a significant portion of Canadian equities, while the U.S. market gives investors much greater exposure to sectors such as technology and consumer companies.
That creates an uncomfortable tension for Canadians who want their investments to reflect the same sentiment guiding their spending.
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Jason Heath, managing director of Objective Financial Partners, understands why some investors may want to reduce their exposure to the United States because of their personal values. But completely avoiding the country could come at a cost.
“It could have a negative investment implication for a Canadian investor,” he said.
The trade war, and the tariffs that come with it, can make that decision even more complicated. Mr. Wong describes the situation as something of a paradox.
Tariffs and prolonged trade uncertainty could hurt the Canadian economy and weaken the Canadian dollar. If an investor responds to that uncertainty by shifting significantly more of their portfolio out of the United States and into Canada, they may become even more exposed to the economy most directly affected by the dispute.
“Moving significantly more of your portfolio from the U.S. into Canada could actually increase your risk,” he said.
That doesn’t mean Canadians haven’t shifted their investments, though. Canadians sold $9.9-billion in U.S. government bonds in June, making them net sellers in every month since January, according to Statistics Canada. At the same time, Canadian investors bought $12.82-billion worth of U.S. corporate bonds in June, the highest monthly total on record.
Global bond markets face concerns about inflation and the growing U.S. fiscal deficit, while American technology companies are borrowing heavily to finance data centres and other artificial-intelligence infrastructure.
For the average Canadian investor, financial planners say the big lesson from the renewed trade fight is not to let the latest political development dictate a long-term investment strategy.
Markets have already had more than a year to digest tariffs, threats and shifting negotiations between Canada and the United States. The political relationship could deteriorate further or look very different a year from now, Mr. Wong said. A retirement portfolio, meanwhile, may need to last for decades.
“There’s no point in changing your portfolio based on more of a temporary political discourse,” he added.