Canada’s former ambassador to the United States is urging Canadian business leaders to prepare for a lasting shift in the country’s economic relationship with its largest trading partner, rather than assuming things will eventually return to the way they were. “I think we need to find a new path,” said Kirsten Hillman in Banff, Alta., on Thursday. Her remarks came on the opening day of the 27th annual Global Business Forum, which is taking place Thursday and Friday at the Fairmont Banff Springs. This year’s theme is “Thriving in Chaos,” with speakers discussing global business, politics, security and other issues facing the international community. Hillman, who served as Canada’s ambassador to the U.S. from 2020 until earlier this year, said Canadian companies need to recognize the assumptions underpinning decades of deeply integrated Canada-U.S. trade have changed. “We have taken for granted that we would have virtually duty-free trade with the United States and a sense of mutual commitment to building deeply integrated economies,” she said. “If CEOs are not paying attention to that and recognizing that, then it could be their sector next, it could happen to them as well,” she said. The warning comes as trade talks between Canada and the U.S. remain stalled after negotiations broke in August. Escalating tariff measures from both countries have since ensued. The two countries remain deeply economically connected, but Hillman described the current tensions as part of a broader change in how the U.S. views its relationship with Canada. “It is not about a specific sector. It is about a change in perspective and philosophy, or the revelation of a perspective and philosophy that’s probably always been there and is now being actualized through President Trump and his team and his vision,” she said. For Canadian businesses, that means looking beyond the U.S. market and building greater resilience at home. “One customer is not a very resilient way to be,” Hillman said. She encouraged companies to take advantage of opportunities to increase domestic sales, strengthen the Canadian market and diversify their customer base. The shift could also prompt Canada to become more self-reliant, while changing how the country approaches its relationship with its southern neighbour. Canadians, Hillman said, have traditionally viewed the relationship through the lens of partnership, often seeing Canada as a supportive junior partner to the U.S. “I think that Canadians have this sense of sort of the wingman, right, and that we’re there, and we’re going to be the best junior partner that you’ve got to help do all your stuff,” she said. The American perspective, however, places greater emphasis on national interests. “Ultimately, Americans understand their own sense of fighting for their country, being American, being patriotic, doing things for themselves, doing things for their country and their individual interest within that context,” she said. Hillman added that Canadians are now gaining a better understanding of that perspective, which could push the country to make progress on issues that have been discussed for years. She pointed to interprovincial trade, major infrastructure projects and energy development. “We’ve been talking about this for generations, but we haven’t, or at least not our generation, and we haven’t done it, and now we are going to do it.” Greater self-reliance, she added, doesn’t necessarily mean moving away from the United States. Instead, Canada could approach the relationship from a different position and make more deliberate decisions about where deeper economic integration makes sense. “I think understanding that and taking a bit of that attitude ourselves is going to make us a stronger country,” Hillman said. She expects Canada and the U.S. to remain close partners but said the relationship could be stronger if Canadians approach it with a clearer understanding of their own interests.
