Half (52%) of Ontarians Say Hydro Rebates Don't go Far Enough

Toronto, ON - Half (52%) of Ontarians say the hydro rebates recently announced in the Ontario Government's Speech from the Throne don't go far enough, according to a new Ipsos poll conducted for Global News.

The Government of Ontario recently announced that, in order to provide Ontarians additional relief on electricity bills, the provincial portion of the HST will be rebated on hydro bills across Ontario (equivalent of 8% savings per household), and eligible rural residents will receive a larger rebate of about $45 a month.

In response, half (52%) of Ontarians say that the announcement "doesn't go far enough" and that "more should be done to help those who need it". One in four (24%) believe "it is a prudent decision because it will make a difference to those who need it". Conversely, one in ten (10%) "disagree with it because Ontario can't afford these rebates", while one in ten (14%) don't know how they feel about the announcement.

Nearly two thirds (63%) of Ontarians were aware of the announcement (prior to participating in the poll), and those aware are most likely to believe it doesn't go far enough to provide relief on hydro rates. Among those aware of the announcement, 60% say it doesn't go far enough, 22% believe the policy is prudent, 11% disagree with it, and just 6% are unsure. Among those who are not aware of the announcement, four in ten (38%) say it doesn't go far enough, 28% call it prudent, 7% disagree with it, and three in ten (27%) are unsure.

The data reveal significant variation in opinion by region of the province:

• Those in the central (75%), southwestern (64%), eastern (58%), and northern (54%) parts of the province, along with residents of the 905 (54%), are more likely than those in the 416 (24%) to believe the rebates don't go far enough to provide hydro-rate relief.
• Residents of the 416 are much more likely (44%) than those in the North (29%), 905 (23%), East (17%), Central (15%) and Southwest (15%) to call the announcement prudent.
• Those in the 416 (15%) and East (14%) are most likely to disagree with the announcement because Ontario can't afford the rebates, followed by those living in the 905 (8%), Southwest (8%), North (6%), and Central (2%).

The results also show a generational divide:

• Those aged 55+ (67%) and 35-54 (59%) are much more likely than those aged 18-34 (27%) to believe the announcement doesn't go far enough.
• Millennials (42%) are significantly more likely than Gen X (19%) or Boomers (15%) to believe it is a prudent decision because it will make a difference to those who need it.

In short, the announcement appears to resonate the most with younger people living in the city, while leaving older, more rural residents outside of Toronto with the feeling that more should be done to provide additional relief on hydro rates.

These are some of the findings of an Ipsos poll conducted between September 19 to 22, 2016. For this survey, a sample of 800 Ontarians from Ipsos' online panel was interviewed online. Weighting160was then160employed to balance demographics to ensure that the sample's composition reflects that of the adult population according to Census data and to provide results intended to approximate the sample universe. The precision of Ipsos online polls is measured using a credibility interval.160 In this case, the poll is accurate to within +/ - 4 percentage points, 19 times out of 20, had all Ontarian adults been polled. The credibility interval will be wider among subsets of the population. All sample surveys and polls may be subject to other sources of error, including, but not limited to coverage error, and measurement error.

For more information on this news release, please contact:

Darrell Bricker, Phd
CEO
(416) 324-2001
Ipsos Public Affairs
[email protected]

About Ipsos

Ipsos ranks third in the global research industry. With a strong presence in 87 countries, Ipsos employs more than 16,000 people and has the ability to conduct research programs in more than 100 countries. Founded in France in 1975, Ipsos is controlled and managed by research professionals. They have built a solid Group around a multi-specialist positioning-- Media and advertising research; Marketing research; Client and employee relationship management; Opinion & social research; Mobile, Online, Offline data collection and delivery. Ipsos has been listed on the Paris Stock Exchange since 1999. www.ipsos.com