Similar proportions of Canadians (43%) and Americans (38%) “always” alter how they speak to avoid swearing.
Vancouver, BC [October 2, 2025] – Swear words are more likely to find their way into the conversations of Americans than the conversations of Canadians, a new two-country Research Co. poll has found.
In the online survey of representative national samples, more than half of Canadians (57%) say they swear “frequently” or “occasionally” when talking to friends, down one point since a similar Research Co. poll conducted in September 2023.
Fewer Canadians admit to swearing in conversations with relatives (43%, =), co-workers (35%, -4) and strangers (23%, -3).
Conversely. more than half of Americans swear “frequently” or “occasionally” when talking to friends (64%) and relatives (51%). Smaller proportions of respondents in the United States also rely on swear words during conversations with co-workers (47%) and strangers (33%).
“Only 22% of Canadians and 20% of Americans aged 55 and over swear at work,” says Mario Canseco, President of Research Co. “The proportions rise to 43% in Canada and 64% in the United States among those aged 18-to-34.”
Majorities of Canadians say they hear other people swear “frequently” or “occasionally “when talking with friends (71%, -1), relatives (57%, +2), co-workers (54%, +2) and strangers (51%, -1). The proportions are markedly higher in the United States during conversations with friends (74%), relatives (65%), co-workers (60%) and strangers (59%).
In Canada, 43% of respondents (-1) claim to “always” alter the way they speak to make sure they do not swear in public, while a similar proportion (42%, -2) say they “sometimes” alter the way they speak so as not to swear in front of certain people.
Americans are more likely to say they “sometimes” alter their language to avoid swearing (49%) than to “always” partake in this behaviour (38%).
Only 15% of Canadians and 13% of Americans say they “never” alter the way they speak and if a swear word comes out, they do not worry about it.
Canadians who voted for the Conservative Party this year are slightly more likely to say they “never” alter their language in a public conversation (16%) than those who supported the Liberal Party (14%) or the New Democratic Party (NDP) (11%).
In the United States, Republicans are more likely to say they “never” alter the way they speak (16%) than Independents (14%) or Democrats (7%).
Respondents to this survey were asked to type in the swear word they say the most. Fewer than one-in-five Canadians (17%) and Americans (13%) claim to either not swear at all or lack a favourite word.
In Canada, only two words reached double digits: “f*ck” (41%, +1) and “sh*t” or “m*rd*” (22%, -1). In the United States, “f*ck” was also at the top of the list (37%), followed by “sh*t” (24%) and “d*mn” (13%).
Methodology: Results are based on an online survey conducted from June 30 to July 2, 2025, among 1,001 adults in Canada and 1,000 adults in the United States. The data has been statistically weighted according to Canadian census figures for age, gender and region in each country. The margin of error—which measures sample variability—is plus or minus 3.1 percentage points, 19 times out of 20, for each country.
Find our data tables for Canada here, data tables for the United States 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