An Ipsos poll shows 54 percent of Canadians surveyed support stronger trade ties with China. Photo: Screenshot from website of Ipsos

As Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney reportedly prepares to visit China and restore trade and diplomatic ties, a latest poll suggests that more than half of Canadians say they support more trade with China, according to media reports.

The Ipsos poll, conducted exclusively for Global News - the news and current affairs division of the Canadian Global Television Network - and released on Saturday local time, found that 54 percent of respondents expressed support for closer trade ties and economic agreements with China.

Ipsos contacted 2,001 Canadian adults in early December 2025 for the poll. 

Darrell Bricker, CEO of Ipsos Public Affairs, said the new poll's results show that people are thinking about who in the world we're going to trade with. And the second-largest population in the world, and the second-largest economy, is probably a place that we need to have some sort of relationship with, per Global News.

Prime Minister Carney will begin a visit to China on January 13, the first in eight years for a Canadian leader, with aims to talk trade and rebuild ties after years of diplomatic tensions, AFP News reported. The visit has not been confirmed by the Chinese side yet. 

The January 13-17 trip seeks to "strengthen cooperation in the areas of trade, energy, agriculture and international security", a Carney spokeswoman told AFP.

The last Canadian leader to visit China was Justin Trudeau, in December 2017, per the report.

Carney, looking for new export markets because of an increasingly protectionist US, is trying to patch up ties with Beijing after a severe diplomatic rupture and years of Canada barring state-owned Chinese companies from investing or operating in the country, the Globe and Mail reported.  

Canadian media outlet CTV News, citing political analyst Sharan Kaur, said that Carney's upcoming visit to China holds significance for international relations, diplomacy, and more.  

Canadian MP Kody Blois, told media on Sunday that Carney would like to "recalibrate" Canada's once-frosty relationship with the Chinese government and look at economic opportunities for the two nations, CBC News reported.

"What I would say, and what Canadians should understand, is that we know the importance of what the Chinese market means from an economic perspective," Blois said. 



Global Times