At a first-thing-in-the-morning Introduction to Canadian politics class, one generation Z student takes a beat and lets her energy drink kick in before launching into her thoughts on Donald Trump\u2019s threats toward Canada.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am feeling pyrrhic,\u201d she types in the chat that runs alongside spoken discussion of the virtual class.<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u201cI\u2019m willing to suffer to make the beast bleed.\u201d<\/p>\n
Her bravado\u00a0\u2014 call it a desire to stand up to a bully, to fight against injustice\u00a0\u2014 is echoed by others in this increasingly popular Sheridan College class.<\/p>\n
The young students are part of generation Z, ranging from high school age to almost 30 years old.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a generation on a precipice.<\/p>\n
Their country\u2019s relationship with the most powerful nation in the world is fracturing before their eyes. Trump\u2019s second term as U.S. president has upended decades of stability, with conflicts both threatened and real around the world, and it has cast the very future of \u201cCanada\u201d into question.<\/p>\n
Some researchers and civic organizers believe there is an opportunity right now for the government \u2014 and more broadly, for the country \u2014 to rally a group of newly energized young people, who want to be part of protecting Canada\u2019s future.<\/p>\n
But there is also a parallel anxiety among young people in this country about what their suffering, or\u00a0\u2014 in a more patriotic framing \u2014 sacrifice for Canada might look like.<\/p>\n
If generation Z is being asked what they can do for their country, they want to know what is being offered in return.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u2018A wake-up call\u2019<\/p>\n
Shreya Rao, 22, a University of Waterloo student, says many of her contemporaries have grown up in a \u201chyper-globalized and mostly online world.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cPost-pandemic, when we actually became adults, I don\u2019t think anybody really thought about \u2018Canada\u2019 and like \u2018Canadian values\u2019 as much as they do now,\u201d Rao says.<\/p>\n
\u201cI feel like (this moment) has been kind of a wake-up call.\u201d<\/p>\n
Prime Minister Mark Carney\u2019s speech at Davos earlier this year resonated with her. It felt honest about the current global reality and offered a rare sense of hope for the future.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am very, very optimistic that now that people are seeing their rights and their freedom being questioned, I feel like they\u2019re going to start participating in governance a little bit more,\u201d says Rao.<\/p>\n
But she still has questions about how her generation will be included in a new vision for Canada, and worries about what will happen if they are left behind.<\/p>\n
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Some civic groups have seen a rise in interest\u00a0 in their programs since Trump\u2019s attacks on Canada.<\/p>\n
Richard Lautens\/Toronto Star file photo<\/p>\n
Jad El Ghali, 25, has been deeply interested in politics since he was a teenager, to the surprise of many of his friends who had always considered Canadian politics boring. That view has changed for many in the past year.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re coming to me engaged. They\u2019ve seen things on their TikTok. They\u2019ve seen things on Instagram. And they\u2019re like, \u2018Wow, honestly, Canada\u2019s doing so great on the world stage and it\u2019s so important for us to stand up.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
They are having conversations about sovereignty and national identity. \u201cHow do we separate it from just saying that we\u2019re not American?\u201d El Ghali says.<\/p>\n
But no generation can be easily summed up.<\/p>\n
Some polls<\/a>\u00a0reveal a pocket of Canadians open to becoming the 51st state\u00a0\u2014 a number that can be higher among young people, in part because they see opportunities for their future.\u00a0<\/p>\n And if more and more young people come to believe the social contract they have with their country is broken\u00a0\u2014 that they cannot find jobs, homes, health care or a future that looks promising \u2014 what happens next?<\/p>\n Fears of a talent drain<\/p>\n An Ipsos poll from early 2025<\/a>\u00a0found that young people were more worried than older generations about the risk to Canada\u2019s independence, but were also more willing to become American if Canadians were offered full U.S. citizenship and conversion of financial assets into U.S. dollars.<\/p>\n It\u2019s a finding that aligns with something El Ghali has heard from some of his friends. They\u2019ve been leaving Canada to find better jobs, moving to the U.S. or to the Middle East.<\/p>\n Job options in the U.S. may not be what they once were, either, but the cost of living, employment and housing frustrations in Canada that saw a swing among young people toward the Conservatives in the most recent election remain. He says he thinks that if Canada doesn\u2019t present an alternative, smart, young people will still leave.<\/p>\n Rao, the Waterloo student, whose interests span environmentalism, entrepreneurship and youth civic engagement, agrees.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re going to lose a lot of our really strong talent,\u201d she says, adding that among her university peers, the U.S. is still a destination of choice for the ambitious.<\/p>\n Thinking about Carney\u2019s speech, she said: \u201cI think it makes sense to hope that Canada will prosper on its own, but, in practice, it doesn\u2019t seem like most people feel that or believe that.\u201d<\/p>\n What does patriotism look like?<\/p>\n The question of what it means to be \u201cCanadian\u201d is a fraught one for generation Z.<\/p>\n \u201cCanada has always had a sort of \u2018patriotism lite\u2019 version of patriotism,\u201d says Joel Westheimer,\u00a0professor and youth democracy researcher at the\u00a0University of Ottawa.<\/p>\n Debates in recent years have questioned what patriotism should look like, especially for a generation reckoning with the legacy of colonialism, as well as the realities of racial and economic inequality.<\/p>\n Since Trump began threatening Canada\u2019s independence, there has been an increase in overt patriotism, including among youth, at least in Westheimer\u2019s observation, \u201cbut it\u2019s balanced \u2026 by this sort of global orientation toward justice, so less a kind of blind loyalty to the state.\u201d<\/p>\n Generation Z patriotism is tempered by the fact that a lot feel left behind by rising costs for basics like shelter and education, and a bleak job market.<\/p>\n Steve Russell\/Toronto Star file photo<\/p>\n Sam Reusch, executive director of youth civic group Apathy is Boring, says that in speaking to her colleagues across the country, there is a desire among young people to fight for something bigger.<\/p>\n \u201cPeople do want to be part of something. I think that a lot of our civil society networks have broken down post-COVID,\u201d says Reusch. \u201cA lot of young people are coming up in the world where they have fewer relationships and fewer connections<\/a> than previous generations.\u201d<\/p>\n But what is the best way to be a good Canadian, even if that\u2019s what someone wants to do?<\/p>\n Feeling left behind<\/p>\n It may be as simple as deciding how and where to spend money.\u00a0<\/p>\n Some young people speak about paying closer attention to buying local and supporting Canadian businesses, but the path can be unclear. Some note the challenges of figuring out what qualifies as truly local in a globalized economy where U.S. companies have local factories that employ Canadian workers, or a Toronto-based clothing designer has products manufactured in China.<\/p>\n A\u00a0January Abacus poll\u00a0found that generation Z was choosing to travel more to the U.S. than older generations for tourism, but was also more judgmental of those who chose to vacation in the U.S.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cFor younger adults especially, travel is no longer politically neutral. It is becoming a signal,\u201d the poll suggested.<\/p>\n Spending choices are, of course, set against an economic reality. Generation Z isn\u2019t at the peak of its spending power, compared to, say, gen-Xers.<\/p>\n And asking young Canadians to take on more challenges is complicated.<\/p>\n \u201cThere is a real nihilism there,\u201d says Reusch. \u201cA lot of people feel left behind.\u201d<\/p>\n Some see this as a moment to consider introducing a form of national service<\/a>, a way to provide purpose, connection to country and skill-building\u00a0\u2014 or trying to boost military recruitment.\u00a0<\/p>\n The rise in applications to join the Canadian Armed Forces can be seen as the logical extension of the pride felt by some at being Canadian in the face of threats to our sovereignty.<\/p>\n Sean Kilpatrick\/The Canadian Press file photo<\/p>\n \u201cHistory has shown us that when people experience adversity together, they can serve as a unifying, patriotic force,\u201d says Anthony Robb, a former combat engineer and managing director of Canada Company, a charity that supports Canadian military members and their families.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen our sovereignty is attacked\u00a0\u2014 even if it\u2019s just figuratively attacked \u2014 it reminds us all that being Canadian is one of the greatest privileges in the world, and it\u2019s something to be proud of.\u201d<\/p>\n The Canadian Armed Forces has seen an overall rise in applications, with Toronto receiving twice as many serious applications so far than last year. But it\u2019s unclear how much of that is driven by U.S. threats and how much is due to changes in recruitment efforts, including bonuses.<\/p>\n \u201cThe economy is a driving factor\u00a0\u2014 a lot of people looking for a job with stability,\u201d said Petty Officer Second Class Kimberley O\u2019Neill, a recruiter based in Toronto, adding that some of the increase is people looking to start a second career.<\/p>\n O\u2019Neill didn\u2019t comment on whether Trump\u2019s remarks have been mentioned by recent applicants as a reason for signing up. But she did say\u00a0there is a desire for purpose, which is part of what drew her to enrol 16 years ago.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t think that part has changed much for young people today,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Robb says that beyond the recent rise in applications to join the armed forces, \u201cwe should be encouraging a service-oriented mindset in all Canadians.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n A need for education<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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