Fewer than one-in-five of the country’s residents think provincial legislatures should begin their sessions with a Christian prayer.
Vancouver, BC [August 28, 2024] – A sizeable proportion of Canadians would welcome a proposal to create a mandatory national service for all 18-year-old residents of the country, a new Research Co. poll has found.
Earlier this year, the Conservative Party in the United Kingdom suggested bringing back mandatory national service. The proposal called for all 18-year-old residents of the United Kingdom to either take a full-time military placement for one year, or to volunteer one weekend a month performing community service for one year.
Half of Canadians (50%) support implementing a similar mandatory national service for all 18-year-old residents of Canada, while 41% disagree and 8% are not sure.
“More than half of Canadians aged 18-to-34 (55%) would like to see a form of mandatory national service in the country,” says Mario Canseco, President of Research Co. “The proportions are lower among their counterparts aged 35-to-54 (47%) and aged 55 and over (48%).”
The notion of having a mandatory national service in Canada is more popular in Ontario (60%), British Columbia (58%) and Saskatchewan and Manitoba (54%). Fewer than half of residents of Atlantic Canada (46%), Alberta (44%) and Quebec (42%) concur.
The perceptions of Canadians change when asked about the return of conscription, or the compulsory enlistment of young adults for full-time military service.
In Canada, conscription has not been practiced since the end of the Second World War in 1945. Some European and North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) member countries—including Norway, Sweden and Latvia—have recently reintroduced conscription.
Just over two-in-five Canadians (41%) are in favour of reintroducing conscription for adults of both genders aged 18-to-27 in Canada, while 50% are opposed.
Similar proportions of Canadians who voted for the Liberal Party (44%), the Conservative Party (43%) and the New Democratic Party (NDP) (40%) in the 2021 federal election support the implementation of conscription for Canadians aged 18-to-27, regardless of their gender.
Public backing for the return of conscription is lower if a directive called for its implementation exclusively for men (31%) or women (25%).
In the United States, the “Pledge of Allegiance” is recited during Congressional sessions and other government meetings. Just over half of Canadians (52%) think Canada should implement a similar directive, where lawmakers and government workers state their allegiance to the country.
The creation of a “Canadian pledge” is more popular among men (55%), Canadians aged 18-to-34 (56%), Ontarians (57%) and Albertans (55%).
In Canada, some provincial legislatures begin their sessions with moments of silent reflection, non-denominational prayers, and/or Christian prayers.
Just under two-in-five Canadians (39%) would prefer to start legislative sessions in their province with a moment of silent reflection, while fewer select a Christian prayer (19%) or a non-denominational prayer (13%).
More than one-in-five Canadians (22%) believe provincial legislatures should not start sessions with moments of reflection or prayers—a proportion that reaches 28% in British Columbia and 27% in Quebec.
Methodology: Results are based on an online study conducted from July 24 to July 26, 2024, 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