In The Land Of The Not So Living

Toronto, ON - A new Ipsos Reid poll conducted on behalf of CanWest News Service and Global Television finds that while two thirds (66%) of Canadians indicate that they believe in angels and half (48%) of the nation says they believe in spirits and ghosts. One in 10 (10%) Canadians believe that there is a spirit or ghost actually living in their house or residence. To put it in perspective, that's 2.5 million Canadians who believe that when something goes bump in the night it's more than the mice from Ratatouille.

Those most likely to believe in angels (66%) are women (75%) compared to men (56%), but there doesn't appear to be much difference when it comes to age: middle aged individuals, aged 35-54, (68%) are just slightly more likely than older (65%) and younger (64%) Canadians to believe in angels. Regionally, there are some who believe more than others. In ranked order, residents of the following provinces report believing in angels:

• Saskatchewan/Manitoba (77%), Atlantic Canada (74%), Alberta (69%), Ontario (68%), British Columbia (65%), Quйbec (57%)

But Then Things Start To Get A Little Spookier...

Half (48%) of Canadians indicate that they `believe in spirits and ghosts'. This is more likely to be the case with women (53%) than with men (42%), and with the younger (54%) and middle aged (52%) compared with older (39%) Canadians.

The provinces or regions where Canadians are likely to believe in spirits or ghosts in ranked order:

• Saskatchewan/Manitoba (61%), Alberta (58%), British Columbia (57%), Atlantic Canada (54%), Ontario (44%), Quйbec (39%).

The Real Question Is: If They Are Living In A Home Or Residence, Where Do You Send The Bill For Rent?

One in ten (10%) Canadians believe that there is a spirit or ghost living in their house or residence. And just where is there likely to be an extra guestroom? Go west young ghost... In ranked order, they are:

• Alberta (17%), Ontario (11%), Saskatchewan/Manitoba (8%), Quebec, (8%), Atlantic Canada (7%), British Columbia (5%).

If you are a woman (13%) you're slightly more likely than a man (6%) to believe you have an extra visitor. And when it comes to age groupings, there really isn't much difference: middle aged (11%), and younger (9%) and older (8%).

These are the findings of an Ipsos Reid poll conducted on behalf of CanWest News Service and Global Television from Dec 11 to Dec 13, 2007. For the survey, a representative randomly selected sample of 1001 adult Canadians was interviewed by telephone. With a sample of this size, the results are considered accurate to within 177 3.1 percentage points, 19 times out of 20, of what they would have been had the entire adult population of Canada been polled. The margin of error will be larger within regions and for other sub-groupings of the survey population. These data were weighted to ensure that the sample's regional and age/sex composition reflects that of the actual Canadian population according to Census data.

For more information on this news release, please contact:
John Wright
Senior Vice President
Ipsos Reid
Public Affairs
(416) 324-2002
[email protected]

About Ipsos Reid
Ipsos Reid is Canada's market intelligence leader, the country's leading provider of public opinion research, and research partner for loyalty and forecasting and modelling insights. With operations in eight cities, Ipsos Reid employs more than 600 research professionals and support staff in Canada. The company has the biggest network of telephone call centres in the country, as well as the largest pre-recruited household and online panels. Ipsos Reid's marketing research and public affairs practices offer the premier suite of research vehicles in Canada, all of which provide clients with actionable and relevant information. Staffed with seasoned research consultants with extensive industry-specific backgrounds, Ipsos Reid offers syndicated information or custom solutions across key sectors of the Canadian economy, including consumer packaged goods, financial services, automotive, retail, and technology & telecommunications. Ipsos Reid is an Ipsos company, a leading global survey-based market research group.

To learn more, please visit www.ipsos.ca.

Ipsos
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