Could Canada survive economically without free trade with the United States? It’s a bit like asking whether we could survive without computers and the Internet. Both free trade and the digital revolution reshaped our economy in the nineteen nineties. I’m a GenXer who grew up alongside globalization and who thrives in digital tools and open markets. But these forces shaped us without ever being the source of our resilience.
Canada survived and even thrived before NAFTA, before permanent preferential access to U.S. markets, and before the commercial Internet remade everything. Our prosperity didn’t begin in the nineties. We built a high standard of living long before those agreements and technologies arrived. We could do so again, though it would require patience, adjustment, and a deliberate shift in national priorities.
Life in Canada before free trade was plenty great too — a place that created public health care, built its own space program, and kept a sprawling northern nation stitched together with culture, grit, and good winter coats. We carried a quiet confidence that our best ideas didn’t need permission from anywhere else.
Last Updated on December 6, 2025 | Published: December 6, 2025