By Lisa Taylor

Standing up for Canada isn’t just for politicians and industry leaders. You and I have work to do too.

Canadian pride is usually difficult to spot. We’re not showy. We’re proud in a way that doesn’t diminish others’ pride in themselves. We’re collaborative, not competitive. Or at least that’s the story we’ve told ourselves for a long time.

In this moment, we are writing a new story—and that requires us to do something hard. We need to define who we are and stick together, while remaining open and clear-headed about all of our relationships.

A Trust Equation

Canada’s superpower has long been our collaborative power. But what happens when our closest ally, a superpower, no longer wants to collaborate with us? As we recover and reset from a breach in trust by the United States, we must learn to trust ourselves again.

There’s a deep link between trust and pride, not just in national identity but in our relationships—whether they’re between nations, businesses, or individuals. When we work with teams in workplaces, we often use the Trust Equation, developed by David Maister, Charles H. Green, and Robert M. Galford, to understand leadership and culture dynamics. It shows how four variables impact trust: 

Right now, Canada doesn’t have a credible or reliable partner in the U.S., which means we can’t share vulnerabilities that lead to intimacy in a strong relationship. In response, we’ve increased our self-orientation—seen in movements like Buy Canadian and Team Canada, as well as former Prime Ministers rallying Canadians to put national interests first. The net effect is that we take a more transactional approach as a nation, with “dollar-for-dollar retaliation” an example of how our language and mindset have already changed.

Trust has been lost, and today’s national priority should not be to restore it. That takes time and a willing partner.

But trust issues that start on the international stage don’t stay there. Left unchecked, they seep into workplaces and personal relationships, influencing how we interact and collaborate. When national policies become transactional, business leaders must take a proactive, intentional role in ensuring workplace relationships remain resilient.

The Impact on Workplaces

At the national level, deteriorating trust affects trade, security, and policy. At the workplace level, it affects culture, productivity, and engagement. Culture, after all, is best understood as how it really feels to work at an organization. Strained relationships between cross-border teams and distraction due to unwelcome news updates are just two examples of how current events are changing how some workplaces feel.

However, strong workplace cultures can bridge divides. When organizations build predictable, trust-based environments, employees—and leaders—have something stable to hold onto, even as external relationships become more uncertain. A strong culture provides a buffer against uncertainty and instability, keeping teams focused, engaged, and connected.

Strengthening Trust in Our Daily Relationships

Beyond the workplace, the same principles of trust apply to our relationships with family, friends, and community members. The need for credibility, reliability, and intimacy in our relationships has never been greater, especially as we embrace a stronger sense of self-interest and national pride.

The Right Honourable Joe Clark has called for increased direct citizen action. That means taking intentional steps not just in workplaces but also at our kitchen tables, in our local communities, and among our global peers.

Small, meaningful actions can make a big difference when large groups take them up. When those actions are embedded in an organization’s culture, they don’t only align with company values—they become a catalyst for collective action, giving employees tangible ways to support both Canada and their organization’s success.

3 Actions Challenge Factory Is Taking (And You Can Too)

1. Displaying our Canadian pride: We’re actively shifting our buying patterns to Canadian suppliers and highlighting our Canadian identity across our website and communications.
2. Sharing our Canadian perspective: We’re engaging more fully in American industry groups and communities to spark meaningful action from our friends and colleagues. At the same time, we’re being bold about forging new relationships around the world.
3. Staying close to American colleagues: Even as national relationships shift, workplace relationships still matter. We’re offering support where we can as our American colleagues navigate changes beyond economic trade issues. We continue to work as an integrated cross-border team, valuing the trust we’ve built over time.

We Can Do Hard Things—Together

There are hard times ahead, and difficult decisions to make. But trust—whether in the workplace, in our communities, or between nations—is built through consistent action. As our provincial, territorial, and national leaders steer us through, we can each make a difference by remaining focused on our values and intentional with our relationships.

Canada, we can do hard things when we do them together.