With less than two weeks to go before the Trump administration’s promised April 2 tariff updates, it feels as if Canadians are taking a deep breath before a plunge.

Mark Carney has been sworn in as Prime Minister, but the country is in something of a holding pattern with a federal election expected to be called on Sunday and a chaotic economic climate affecting consumer behaviour.

Despite all the turmoil (or because of it), “Buy Canadian” sentiment is still building steam.

This week, Maple Leaf Foods tapped into the notion of patriotic unity with a campaign that forgoes a “traditional brand-first approach” to share the spotlight with dozens of competing, Canadian-owned brands.

The food company joins a chorus of brands that are tapping into the moment of national pride that now includes Mooseheads Breweries, Cheestrings, Pizza Pizza and Aylmer.

Our continuing “Maple Monitor” series looks at some of the moments that exemplified the “Buy Canadian” mood this week. Check back every Friday for more.

Birks’ print-ad rerun blows up

Birks’ relaunch of a nearly 50-year-old ad that defines the fine jeweller’s Canadian roots has been a success, reaching more than 1.1 million people since its republication earlier this month, the company says.

Katie Reusch, senior director of marketing and communications at Birks, says the company’s long history of sharing meaningful messages through print media, and the ad’s origin as a print ad, made a reprint in newspapers feel like a natural fit.

“Through this campaign, we wanted to ensure that our message – that Canada is a strong and resilient nation – reaches a broader audience and resonates globally,” Reusch says.

The revamped ad, which was originally printed to celebrate Canada Day, was featured in the Edmonton Journal, National Post, Ottawa Citizen, Calgary Herald, Vancouver Sun and Montreal Gazette newspapers.

Birks is also planning to relaunch a maple leaf collection in the spring as part of the expanded campaign.

Poll shows Canadians are seeking out homegrown products

The latest “Live by the Leaf Index” shows that “Buy Canadian” sentiment was running high through the early days of March.

According to the poll, a joint effort by Petro-Canada in partnership Harris Poll Canada, eight in 10 Canadians say it is important to “Buy Canadian” and support Canadian companies.

Forty-two per cent of respondents said they actively substituted a product they would have bought with a Canadian alternative in the week leading up to the March 7 to 9 survey and 81% said they are willing to pay more for Canadian items, up from 76% in February.

Seventy-three per cent of those surveyed chose “standing up for ourselves” as the most important aspect of Canadian identity.

The online poll surveyed 1,530 Canadians older than 18. Results were weighted by age, gender, region and education to match the population, according to census data.

Tesla feels heat in Toronto, Vancouver

It was a tough week for Tesla north of the border as the electric-car maker saw the City of Toronto cancel a financial incentive for the purchase of its vehicles and the Vancouver International Auto Show remove it from this year’s event because of safety concerns.

Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow announced Monday that Tesla is no longer part of a program that reduces licensing and renewal fees on electric vehicles purchased by taxi or ride-share drivers. Chow told Reuters the move was made to target Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla and a senior adviser to U.S. President Donald Trump.

And on Tuesday, Vancouver Auto Show executive director Eric Nicholl announced Tesla would not be featured at this year’s event with the EV company facing backlash in numerous countries in the form protests and alleged arson attacks on its dealerships.

Musk has come under increasing scrutiny for his ties to Trump and for his role in spearheading the establishment of the U.S. Department of Government Efficiency.

Travel to the U.S. dwindles in February

Canadians spent less time stateside last month with U.S. Customs and Border Control numbers showing there were more than 500,000 fewer total trips across the border from Canada compared with February 2024.

The CBC, citing the U.S. Customs data, said the number of drivers crossing the Canada-U.S. land border hit its lowest level since April 2022.

The U.S. Customs numbers hint at a similar to trend to data released by Statistics Canada on March 10 that showed Canadian-resident return car trips to the U.S. had fallen 23% this February year over year.

Porter pulls back on marketing push to American destinations

Last week it emerged that Porter Airlines was reducing its marketing push for certain American destinations.

The National Post quoted a Porter spokesperson saying the company “scaled back marketing our U.S. destinations, as some Canadians may view this negatively.”

According to the spokesperson, Porter “initially saw some softening of select U.S. leisure markets, but Canadians are continuing to travel to the U.S.”

– with files from Andrea Hernandez