Canadians Feel Vastly Superior to U.S. on COVID-19 Response

Almost three-in-four respondents (74%) think Canada is doing a better job dealing with the outbreak than the United States.

Vancouver, BC [April 28, 2020] – Most Canadians believe the federal government has been more skillful at managing the COVID-19 pandemic than the administrations of five other nations, a new Research Co. poll has found.

In the online survey of a representative national sample, 74% of Canadians consider that Canada has done a better job dealing with the COVID-19 outbreak than the United States.

“Political allegiance does not play a role in shaping the perceptions of Canadians about what is transpiring in the United States,” says Mario Canseco, President of Research Co. “Majorities of Canadians who voted for the Liberals (78%), the New Democrats (also 78%) and the Conservatives (69%) in last year’s federal election feel the same way.”

More than three-in-five Canadians think Canada’s response to the COVID-19 outbreak has been superior to that of Italy (69%) and Spain (62%). More than half also believe that Canada has been better at handling the pandemic than the United Kingdom (53%) and France (also 53%).

Canadians aged 55 and over appear to be particularly critical of the United States (81% think Canada has been better at handling the COVID-19 outbreak), Italy (78% think Canada has done better) and Spain (75% believe Canada has done better).

Three-in-five residents of Quebec (60%) feel that Canada has performed better than the United Kingdom in dealing with the pandemic, along with 54% of Atlantic Canadians, 51% of Ontarians and 50% of British Columbians.

More than two-in-five Canadians think that Canada has managed the COVID-19 outbreak in a better fashion than Brazil (47%) and Mexico (44%).

The level of undecided respondents is high when Canadians are asked to assess the two Latin American nations (30% for each one), but fewer than one-in-ten consider that those countries have done a better job than Canada so far (6% for Mexico and 4% for Brazil).

About a third of Canadians believe that Canada has been better at handling the COVID-19 outbreak than Germany (32%), Japan (31%) and South Korea (28%). One-in-five Canadians (25%) think Canada has done a worse job than South Korea when it comes to the pandemic. About three-in-ten believe Canada is doing “about the same” as Germany (31%) and Japan (29%) in managing the situation.

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