Strong Majority of Canadians (85%) Want Canada-U.S. Land Border Closed Until At Least the End of 2020

Toronto, ON, July 17, 2020 – Most Canadians continue to want the Canada-US land border to stay closed to all non-essential travel and want it kept that way through at least the end of the year, according to a new Ipsos poll conducted on behalf of Global News.

Turning their gaze to the south, over eight in ten (85%) Canadians agree (54% strongly/31% somewhat) that the Canada – U.S. land border should stay closed until at least the end of 2020. A strong majority of Canadians in every region support this, ranging from 77% of Albertans to 97% of Atlantic Canadians.

On the other hand, only two in ten (21%) Canadians agree (7% strongly/14% somewhat) that Canada needs to open its borders as quickly as possible to help the travel and tourism industries, while most (79%) disagree (45% strongly/35% somewhat) with this degree of haste.

While likely an impediment to travel abroad, nine in ten (92%) Canadians agree (64% strongly/28% somewhat) that Canada should continue to have a mandatory 14-day quarantine for Canadians returning to Canada, while just 8% disagree with this policy (2% strongly/6% somewhat).

Canadians assess Risks of Travel

Almost all (93%) Canadians agree (72% strongly/21% somewhat) that it is too risky to travel to the United States this summer, and a similar proportion (89%) agrees (64% strongly/26% somewhat) that it is too risky to travel overseas this summer as well.

Looking at domestic travel, Canadian opinion is more mixed: while 62% agree (20% strongly/42% somewhat) that it is too risky to travel to another province within Canada this summer, four in ten (38%) Canadians disagree (7% strongly/31% somewhat), perhaps believing that now is the ideal time to travel within Canada given limited international options. Atlantic Canadians are most likely to believe that traveling out of their home province is too risky (76%), followed by those living in Saskatchewan and Manitoba (69%), British Columbia (67%), Ontario (60%), Quebec (60%) and Alberta (51%).

Thinking about the degree to which Canadians are comfortable traveling by various modes of transportation:

• 42% of Canadians agree (8% strongly/34% somewhat) that they would be comfortable taking public transit within Canada this summer (train, bus, subway, etc.), a necessary reality for many Canadians who live or work in Canada’s largest cities. Comfort is higher among men (46%) than women (37%), and among those aged 18-34 (55%) when compared to those aged 35-54 (37%) or 55+ (36%).
• A similar proportion (36%) agree (10% strongly/26% somewhat) that they would be comfortable taking a plane within Canada this summer. Once again, men (40%) are more comfortable than women (31%), as are those aged 18-34 (47%) when compared to those aged 35-54 (35%) or 55+ (28%).

About the Study

These are some of the findings of an Ipsos poll conducted between July 8 and 10, 2020, on behalf of Global News. For this survey, a sample of 1,000 Canadians aged 18+ was interviewed online. Quotas and weighting were employed to ensure that the sample’s composition reflects that of the Canadian population according to census parameters. The precision of Ipsos online polls is measured using a credibility interval. In this case, the poll is accurate to within ± 3.5 percentage points, 19 times out of 20, had all Canadians aged 18+ 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
CEO, Ipsos Global Public Affairs
+1 416 324 2001
[email protected]

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