Practically three-in-four of the country’s residents say they will “definitely” or “probably” take a COVID-19 vaccine.
Vancouver, BC [January 25, 2021] – A sizeable proportion of Canadians believe it would be wise to impose travel restrictions inside and across provinces during the COVID-19 pandemic, a new Research Co. poll has found.
In the online survey of a representative national sample, 80% of Canadians agree with prohibiting non-essential travel from one province to another.
In addition, 72% of Canadians are in favour of prohibiting non-essential travel inside their own province—a proportion that rises to 78% among those aged 55 and over and 81% among those who voted for the Liberal Party in the 2019 federal election.
During the holiday season, some elected politicians travelled outside of their home province in contravention of a federal public health guidance to avoid all non-essential travel.
Three-in-five Canadians (61%) think this is a very serious offence and want elected politicians who travelled during the holiday season to resign from their legislatures or face a recall vote.
Nine-in-ten Canadians (90%) are in favour of placing all travellers arriving to Canada into a mandatory 14-day quarantine or isolation period and a similarly high proportion (88%) would keep the border with the United States closed to non-essential travel.
While 51% of Canadians agree with allowing K-12 students to go back to in-class learning in their province, 39% disagree with this course of action.
Almost three-in-four Canadians (74%, +1 since a similar Research Co. survey conducted in November) say they will “definitely” or “probably” take a vaccine against COVID-19, while 16% (+2) would not and 9% (-4) are not sure.
Almost nine-in-ten Canadians (88%) agree with requiring all customers or visitors entering an indoor premise to wear a mask or face covering while inside. Slightly fewer respondents (81%) say they wear a mask every time they leave their home.
Across the country, 58% of Canadians (-5) are satisfied with the way the federal government has managed the COVID-19 pandemic. Similar proportions of residents are content with the performance of their provincial governments (58%, -6) and their municipal governments (60%, -2).
Satisfaction with the way provincial administrations have handled the pandemic is highest in British Columbia (72%, +2), followed by Quebec (65%, -3), Ontario (53%, -15) and Alberta (34%, -12).
When it comes to personal behaviours to prevent infection, about three-in-ten Canadians (29%) say they clean the groceries they buy and 21% do not order food from restaurants at all.
This month saw increases in the proportion of Canadians who say they are overeating or eating more than usual at home (30%, +9), drinking alcohol more often (18%, +6) and losing their temper more often (17%, +2).
In addition, 18% of Canadians (+5) are having baths or showers less often than before the pandemic and one-in-ten (10%, +3) are brushing their teeth less often.
Half of Canadians (50%, -14) believe the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic is “definitely” or “probably” ahead of us, while 33% (+11) think the worst is “definitely” or “probably” behind us.
Methodology:
Results are based on an online survey conducted from January 18 to January 20, 2021, among 1,000 adults in Canada. The data has been statistically weighted according to Canadian census figures for age, gender and region in Canada. The margin of error—which measures sample variability—is +/- 3.1 percentage points, nineteen times out of twenty.
Find our data tables here and download the press release here.
For more information on this poll, please contact:
Mario Canseco, President, Research Co.
778.929.0490
[e] mario.canseco@researchco.ca