Only 14% of Canadians say they currently pay attention to astrology, while 58% claim to have never followed it.
Vancouver, BC [January 4, 2022] – Fewer Canadians believe in astrology than two years ago, a new Research Co. poll has found.
In the online survey of a representative national sample, 32% of Canadians believe in the concept of studying the movements and relative positions of celestial objects to make observations about human affairs and terrestrial events, down four points since a similar Research Co. poll conducted in December 2019.
Two-in-five Albertans (40%, +13) say they believe in astrology, along with 34% of British Columbians (+3) and 31% of residents of Saskatchewan and Manitoba (+3). The numbers are lower in Ontario (38%, -4), Atlantic Canada (30%, -7) and Quebec (22%, -14).
“While belief in astrology is down at the national level, there is significant growth among Canada’s youngest adults,” says Mario Canseco, President of Research Co. “More than half of Canadians aged 18-to-34 (55%, +6) believe in the concept, compared to 36% among those aged 25-to-54 (-1) and 23% among those aged 55 and over (-4).”
When asked about their behaviour, 14% of Canadians (-6) say they currently pay attention to astrology—a proportion that includes 26% of those aged 18-to-34, 18% of Ontarians and 16% of women.
Larger proportions of Canadians say they used to pay attention to astrology at some point in their lives (28%, +1) or claim to have never paid attention to it (58%, +4).
The proportion of Canadians who believe in three other concepts is also lower than it was in 2019. Just under one third of the country’s residents (32%, -1) believe in haunted houses, or buildings being inhabited by spirits of dead people.
Belief in haunted houses is highest in British Columbia (38%), Saskatchewan and Manitoba (37%) and Alberta (36%), and lower in Ontario (32%), Atlantic Canada (30%) and Quebec (24%).
Fewer than three-in-ten Canadians (28%, -3) believe in clairvoyance, or the ability to gain information about an object, person, location or physical event through extrasensory perception.
Women are more likely to believe in clairvoyance (35%) than men (21%).
More than one-in-four Canadians (26%, -5) believe in mediumship, or mediating communication between living human beings and spirits of dead people.
While almost half of Canadians aged 18-to-34 believe in mediumship (48%), the proportion drops to 30% among those aged 35-to-54 and 16% among those aged 55 and over.
Methodology:
Results are based on an online study conducted from December 15 to December 17, 2021, among 1,000 adults in Canada. The data has been statistically weighted according to Canadian census figures for age, gender and region. The margin of error – which measures sample variability – is +/- 3.1 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.
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