Canada’s global reputation is through the roof. Can it stay there?

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Thanks in part to Prime Minister Mark Carney’s fightback against American insults, threats and tariffs, this country has never been more popular. This is particularly helpful given that Canada aims to double its non-U.S. exports in the next decade.     

In 2025, Canada jumped from number six to third in the annual Anholt Nation Brands Index.    

“That’s very unusual,” says Simon Anholt, creator of the influential NBI, which measures the international reputation and brand image of 50 different nations.     

“Why did it happen? Canada found itself at the nexus of global affairs, which cast it in a different light. The world craves responsible, ethical leadership.”

Anholt’s 2025 report didn’t include the effects of Carney’s now-legendary speech at Davos in January, where he called for middle-power resistance against erratic hegemonies. Carney and Canada have come to embody the fightback against belligerent superpowers.   

“We are all Canadians now,” Bill Emmott, former editor of The Economist, wrote in the wake of Carney’s speech.

Canada’s new role comes during a perilous era. Not only does the country have to find its feet at a time of constrained budgets due to rearmament imperatives, but it also must do so amid assaults, official and unofficial, from its erstwhile best friend. 

“We are increasingly seeing the Canadian image under attack in unprecedented ways,” particularly from the far right in the U.S., says Stewart Prest, a political science lecturer at the University of British Columbia. 

“This really requires a rapid response.”

New focus, new priorities

For decades, Canada didn’t need to focus on its perception abroad. Given that the majority of its trade goes to its southern neighbour — something unlikely to change anytime soon — its global image was not a major priority. That’s now changed as Carney looks for new opportunities, not just in Europe but also in the Pacific Rim. 

Increased trade relations with non-US countries “used to be a nice to have, not a need to have,” says Prest. This new focus overseas and its expanded diplomacy is “a real transformation of Canada's place in the world.”    

To be sure, Canada’s popularity is nothing new: it has enjoyed a solid reputation abroad for decades. According to Reputation Lab, Canada shares the number one spot with Switzerland. Thanks to an ease of business, appealing lifestyle, and political stability, Canada ranks eighth on Brand Finance’s Global Soft Power Index.

But there could be bumps in the road. At the same time that Canada is promoting itself abroad, the federal government has rolled back its climate action policies, prompting legal action by a group of young Canadians. Carney became prime minister backed by an international reputation as a leading voice on climate-related financial risk. During his famous “tragedy on the horizon” speech in 2015 at Lloyd’s of London, he framed climate change as an existential threat to the financial system and condemned the fossil fuel and financial sectors for failing to take proactive climate action. Some observers say he appears to have abandoned his own climate ambitions.

Canada also seems to be backing away from human rights priorities. 

“There are tensions. It’s a minefield at the moment,” says Errol Mendes, a law professor at the University of Ottawa, referring to conflicting messages and priorities and how to respond.

Carney’s decision to scrap the consumer carbon tax, walk back oil and gas emissions caps, and pursue investment deals with authoritarian regimes such as the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar could put Canada at odds with global perceptions of us as green and a champion for weaker nations.

“For brands to be successful, they have to be truthful. Events or actions can cause damage, especially in the age of social media,” says Richard Nimijean, an associate professor at Carleton University’s School of Canadian Studies, whose research focuses on national identity and branding. 

“When you say something that you are and then go against it, that’s a problem.”

Switzerland’s strategic asset    

In terms of staying on top of its image, could Canada learn from Switzerland, one of the world’s consistent top performers? That country knows a thing or two about brand management. For decades, it has had to navigate negative press regarding issues like Holocaust gold, bank secrecy rules, tax evasion, and even its hosting of Zurich-based FIFA.

The Alpine country does not leave its reputation to chance and sees it as an important strategic asset that requires active management. Presence Switzerland is the Swiss government's public diplomacy and nation-branding unit. Located within the General Secretariat of the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs, it has a legal mandate to promote the country’s image abroad, monitor foreign perceptions of the country, and support communication activities that advance Swiss interests internationally.     

Through media monitoring, image surveys, and strategic analysis, Presence Switzerland provides the Federal Council and federal agencies with assessments of how political developments and policy decisions may affect Switzerland's international reputation.    

There is no exact equivalent in Canada. Here, responsibility for measuring, monitoring and advising on international image is dispersed across multiple organizations, with Global Affairs Canada (GAC) taking the lead. It is a model formulated in a more peaceful and predictable era, one built on trust in multilateral institutions that are currently under pressure.     

Anholt says a similar department in Canada need not be as big or as prescribed as Presence Switzerland to be effective. A focused, centralized, data-based unit could be created at a much smaller scale. The important thing is that it does not devolve into a propaganda machine or marketing tool. 

“Canada needs a clear, concrete shared narrative about where it is in the world and where it is going,” he says. 

Such a unit could “help create an enormous amount of decisiveness and energy that is somewhat lacking if it is entirely vested in the leader.“    

But there are questions about how this would square with Indigenous communities and provincial governments, especially Quebec and Alberta, which have substantial overseas representation. They may chafe at a unified definition of who Canada is and what it stands for.

It’s also unclear whether Canada would want to reallocate dwindling resources, given that GAC’s overall budget is set to be cut by $3.6 billion over the next four years.     

“We are cutting as opposed to investing,” says Nimijean.    

Better coordination among various stakeholders, rather than centralization, would be helpful, says Érick Duchesne, a professor at Université Laval specializing in international trade negotiations. 

“The federal government should provide strategic direction and ensure coherence, but it should not monopolize Canada's international narrative.”

Canada's strongest brand ambassador

While Carney's speech in Davos was bold, not everyone believes Canada has a new global image or that it needs help crafting a message. Their view is that its reputation has always been stellar. 

There’s also some pushback on the idea that the prime minister is at serious odds with America. Indeed, Carney has recently been recalibrating his strong words ahead of the CUSMA trade negotiations.

“Middle powers do have to work better together, but stepping out of line in how we are going to do that could result in a significant price regarding investments, jobs and critical supply chains,” says Jacques Shore, a partner at Gowling WLG and former chair of its national government affairs practice. 

“If we get it wrong, we could be penalized heavily by the U.S. administration,  but I remain optimistic overall.”    

For the moment, the prime minister is probably Canada's strongest brand ambassador.    

“Mark Carney is a positive advertisement for Canada,” says Nelson Wiseman, professor emeritus at the University of Toronto, whose research has focused on Canadian political culture.

“He has travelled abroad substantially more than any previous prime minister in his first year in office and is greeted very positively.”