Costco leads in reputation, but tariffs beginning to sour Canadians’ stance on U.S. retailers
Costco is now Canada’s most admired retailer, claiming the top spot in Leger’s annual Reputation ranking for the first time.
Now in its 28th year, the study ranks the most reputable companies based on a survey of more than 38,000 Canadians. Participants assessed 326 companies from 30 business sectors, with each company evaluated by 2,100 respondents. They’re simply asked whether they have a good opinion of a company, a bad opinion, or if they don’t know enough—or at all—to have an opinion.
READ: Costco sales up in March despite economic turbulence
In this year’s survey, 79% said they have a good opinion of Costco, while only 5% reported a bad one. The rest said they didn’t know enough—or anything at all—about the company. That earned Costco an overall score of 74, catapulting it to first place—a significant jump from its 10th-place ranking last year. In 2024, 73% of respondents held a favourable opinion of the retailer and 5% said they had a negative one.
“Canadians consistently praised Costco for their pricing and customer satisfaction. They’re also associated with great employee treatment and ethical business practices,” said Lisa Covens, senior vice-president, public affairs and communications, Central Canada, during a recent webinar revealing the findings.
Following Costco on the top 10 list are: Sony, Samsung, Google, Canadian Tire, YouTube, Interac, Dollarama (moving up from 9th place last year), The Home Depot and Toyota.
Covens noted that Dollarama first made it to the top 10 list in 2016 and has only missed it by hair once since then. “That’s a pretty good run in the top 10. It’s a value-based success story,” she said. “Inflation and economic concerns are top of mind for Canadians, so it’s not surprising that Dollarama continues to be admired for its affordability.”
She added that overall, this year’s top 10 list shows how “reliability, value and trustworthiness remain the cornerstones of reputation in the eyes of Canadians.”
READ: Counter-tariffs challenging but 'manageable' for Dollarama, CEO says
In the grocery and mass merchandising sectors, only two other retailers placed among the 326: Walmart (#48) and Sobeys (#53). Food and beverage companies that made the top 25 are KraftHeinz (#16), Campbell (#18), Kellogg (#23) and McCain Foods (#25).
How today’s political environment is impacting reputation
With the ongoing tariff dispute, Leger has also been tracking shifts in consumer sentiment through its weekly “Trump Tariff Tracker.”
Findings show that people are choosing Canadian over American where they can: Over two-thirds have decreased their purchases of American products (71% in store and 67% online) and are less likely to travel to the United States this year (71%). Over half of Canadians (54%) said their opinion of American companies had worsened since the Trump administration introduced the new tariff measures.
“[The issue] has really captured the attention of Canadians and in a way, it has propelled Canadian pride as well,” said Andrew Enns, Leger’s executive vice-president, Central Canada. “There’s really a nationalist, patriotic fervor that has grabbed our population and grabbed hold of consumers.”
READ: Food patriotism has a price—and most Canadians say they’ll pay it
Because data collection for the Reputation 2025 survey ended just as Donald Trump was inaugurated as president of the United States in January, Leger went back into the field in late March to re-measure the reputation of about 50 companies—nearly half of them American. The research firm said the follow-up reveals the direct and tangible impact of recent events on public opinion in Canada.
For instance, Amazon’s pre-Trump score was 64, but dropped to 35 in the post-Trump follow-up survey. “From December to March, we see a very significant decline,” said Enns.
While other factors might be at play, such as Amazon’s decision to close unionized facilities in Quebec, Enns said, “Certainly we see the implications of [Trump’s] arrival, his aggression or his perspective with respect to Canada and that coinciding rise of national pride and patriotism amongst the Canadian consumer.”
In the follow-up study, Costco dropped 11 points—from 74 to 63—although it still holds No. 1 spot in the ranking study. Meanwhile, Walmart dropped 19 points—from 51 to 32. “Canadians are making different choices here,” said Covens. “We’ve seen that in our Tariff Tracker about avoiding these types of companies and we’re seeing it with the perception Canadians have of actually dealing with these companies.”
Costco tops employer reputation rankings, too
Leger also evaluated companies’ reputations as employers. Once again, Costco came out on top, with a score of 79—edging out tech giants Google (78) and Apple (77) in the top three.
Covens explained that the employer reputation score is slightly more complex than the general reputation score, although awareness is still a key factor.
“To be considered a good employer, Canadians have to know that you exist and that you are an employer,” she said. “Then, you need to be in someone’s consideration set. So, how do feel about the working atmosphere? Is it seen as a good place to work? We do ask this question among all Canadians because we want to get a sense of people’s perceptions—not just people who actually work there.”
