Sharif Hassan, The Canadian Press

Ian Smith used to spend most of his days behind a desk in the RCMP's Windsor, Ont., detachment, working on investigations and performing administrative duties. As a member of the force's border integrity unit, the constable says he didn't even have to wear his uniform. 

But that recently changed. 

Smith now dons a uniform and body armour as he drives a marked RCMP vehicle to help patrol roughly 800 kilometres of Ontario's border with the United States, in addition to his usual investigative work. 

Incoming U.S. president Donald Trump has been courting controversy in Canada since his election victory, with threats to impose whopping tariffs on Canadian goods and musings about the country becoming "the 51st state."

While Trump's comments have drawn anger and fear among Canadians, reaction from Americans who live, study or work in Canada has been mixed – and largely influenced by how they voted in the presidential election. 

Some Canadians from diaspora communities called for the country's independence from the Crown on Friday, saying the death of the Queen is a chance to rethink its ties to the monarchy.

More than 50 countries with historical links to Britain are part of the Commonwealth, which Queen Elizabeth II was head of throughout her reign. Her death Thursday came as a growing number of nations debate their relationship with the British Crown amid demands that the country apologize for its colonial-era abuses and award its former colonies slavery reparations.