Fewer than half of Canadians would welcome paying more in order to fund transit improvements.
Vancouver, BC [August 16, 2023] – More than half of Canadians are willing to pay higher taxes to tackle specific challenges, a new Research Co. poll has found.
In the online survey of a representative national sample, 57% of Canadians say they would “definitely” or “probably” be willing to pay higher taxes to adequately address homelessness and climate change.
“Support for additional tax revenue to deal with homelessness is highest in Atlantic Canada and Quebec (61% each),” says Mario Canseco, President of Research Co. “The proportions are lower in Alberta (60%), Ontario (58%), British Columbia (51%) and Saskatchewan and Manitoba (also 51%).”
Almost two thirds of Canadians aged 18-to-34 (65%) are willing to pay higher taxes to adequately address climate change, along with 54% of those aged 35-to-54 and 53% of those aged 55 and over.
Slightly fewer Canadians would be willing to pay higher taxes in exchange for adequate action on schools (56%), forest fires (55%), housing improvements (54%) and floods (52%).
Fewer than half of Canadians (46%) would be willing to pay higher taxes to adequately deal with transit improvements.
More than three-in-five Canadians who voted for the Liberal Party (62%) or the New Democratic Party (NDP) (also 62%) in the 2021 federal elections are willing to pay higher taxes for housing improvements. The proportion drops to 41% among those who cast ballots for the Conservative Party.
Methodology: Results are based on an online study conducted from July 22 to July 24, 2023, 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