Almost two thirds plan to still wear a mask or face covering when entering an indoor premise in the next two weeks.
Vancouver, BC [March 25, 2022] – Many Canadians are preoccupied about the next stage of the COVID-19 pandemic, a new Research Co. poll has found.
In the online survey of a representative national sample, 52% of Canadians say they are “very anxious” or “moderately anxious” about COVID-19 restrictions and mandates being lifted in their community.
Residents of Saskatchewan and Manitoba are more likely to report feeling anxiety over the end of COVID-19 restrictions and mandates (61%) than their counterparts in British Columbia (53%), Alberta (52%), Ontario (also 52%), Atlantic Canada (also 52%) and Quebec (50%).
“Majorities of Canadians who voted for the New Democratic Party (NDP) (62%) and the Liberal Party (60%) in the last federal election are anxious about the current state of affairs,” says Mario Canseco, President of Research Co. “Only 45% of those who voted for the Conservative Party in 2021 share this feeling.”
In a poll conducted by Research Co. earlier this month, 72% of Canadians thought that the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic was now “behind us.”
More than two-in-five Canadians (44%) think the recent protests and blockades related to the COVID-19 pandemic are responsible “a great deal” or “a fair amount” for restrictions and mandates being lifted in their community.
Canadians aged 18-to-34 are more likely to credit the protests and blockades for the recent policy changes related to COVID-19 (59%) than their counterparts aged 35-to-54 (46%) and aged 55 and over (31%).
Across the country, 65% of Canadians say they will continue to wear a mask or face covering when entering an indoor premise in the next two weeks—a proportion that rises to 73% among those aged 55 and over. However, only 45% of Canadians plan to wear a mask or face covering when leaving their home.
Almost three-in-five Canadians (58%) plan to visit relatives or friends in person over the next two weeks.
Fewer than half of Canadians have made plans to partake in five other activities over the next two weeks: go out for dinner at a sit-down restaurant (43%), go out for lunch at a sit-down restaurant (39%), go to the theatre or cinema (21%), go to a live sporting event as a spectator (11%) or go to a live concert as a spectator (9%).
Methodology: Results are based on an online study conducted from March 18 to March 20, 2022, 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, 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