In response, Justin Trudeau, who is reportedly stepping down as Canada's prime minister, recently wrote on X: "There isn't a snowball's chance in hell that Canada would become part of the United States." Trump-ally Elon Musk then responded: "Girl, you're not the governor of Canada anymore, so doesn't matter what you say."

U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s comments that Canada should become the 51st state are no longer a joke and are meant to undermine America’s closest ally, Canada’s finance minister said Wednesday.

Canada's economy added nearly four times the number of jobs forecasted for December and reached its highest number in almost two years, shrinking bets for a rate cut later this month though one is still expected by the majority of economists.

The labour market capped 2024 with good news as the economy added more jobs than expected. Statistics Canada reports the unemployment rate decreased 0.1 percentage points to 6.7 per cent, also beating expectations.