Canadian companies should stop assuming the country’s economic relationship with the United States will eventually settle back into its old rhythm, Canada’s former ambassador to Washington told a business audience in Banff, Alta.
Kirsten Hillman, who served as Canada’s ambassador to the U.S. from 2020 until earlier this year, said she has been struck by how many business leaders still expect cross-border ties to normalize. Speaking at the Global Business Forum on Thursday, she said that expectation no longer matches reality.
“I think we need to find a new path,” Hillman told the forum, which opened its 27th annual edition at the Fairmont Banff Springs under the theme “Thriving in Chaos.”
A Shift in American Priorities
Hillman said Canadians have spent decades assuming that deep, largely duty-free trade integration with the U.S. was a durable strength of the Canadian economy. She said that assumption no longer holds with President Donald Trump and his administration, and suggested the underlying shift in American attitudes toward Canada may predate Trump’s time in politics.
She described the change as rooted in a broader American philosophy rather than a dispute over any single industry. “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,” Hillman said.
Her comments come as trade talks between Canada and the United States remain stalled following a breakdown in negotiations in August, with both countries having escalated tariff measures since then.
Hillman said Americans continue to hold deep respect for Canada but are ultimately guided by their own national self-interest. She contrasted that with what she described as a longstanding Canadian tendency to see itself as a supportive junior partner, or “wingman,” to the U.S., rather than approaching the relationship from a position of self-interest.
Diversifying Beyond a Single Customer
Hillman warned that companies that aren’t paying attention to the shifting relationship could find themselves affected next, regardless of their sector. She urged businesses to look beyond the U.S. market, build resilience domestically and diversify their customer base rather than relying heavily on a single trading partner.
“One customer is not a very resilient way to be,” she said, adding that Canadian companies have opportunities to grow domestic sales and strengthen the Canadian market.
She said the current tension could also push Canada to finally act on long-discussed priorities such as interprovincial trade, major infrastructure projects and energy development, issues she said past generations of Canadians have talked about without following through.
Hillman said greater self-reliance does not necessarily mean pulling away from the United States altogether, but rather approaching the relationship with a clearer sense of Canadian interests and making more deliberate choices about where deeper integration still makes sense.
Forum Explores Global Uncertainty
At the same forum, Christopher Sands of the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies described what he called a “re-founding of the Canada-U.S. relations” as a positive development, characterizing it as a relationship between more self-reliant and confident countries rather than unequal partners.
Lois Mitchell, the former Alberta lieutenant-governor who co-chairs the Global Business Forum, said in a release ahead of the event that participants are navigating a period marked by unusual global turmoil and disruption to the international order, even as many leaders find ways to manage the uncertainty.
The two-day forum, running Thursday and Friday, includes sessions on global security, the strained Canada-U.S. relationship, space travel and artificial intelligence. Other scheduled speakers include Artemis II astronaut Jeremy Hansen and Alaska Governor Mike Dunleavy, along with executives from Shell Canada, Canadian National Railway Co. and Telus Corp.
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