Canadians agree Canada should be a global supplier of oil and natural gas

Calgary, AB, March 21, 2022. A national survey conducted by Ipsos on behalf of the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers (CAPP) finds that seven in ten Canadians (69%) agree that Canada should be a global supplier of oil and natural gas during times of crisis, including 33% who strongly agree, and 36% who somewhat agree.  Only 15% of respondents either somewhat (10%) or strongly disagreed (5%), with another 16% answering they didn’t know enough to say.

The survey was conducted to gauge Canadians’ views of the potential role for the country’s oil and natural gas in responding to the global energy crisis being exacerbated by the Russia-Ukraine conflict, along with rising inflation and costs in Canada.

There is agreement that Canada needs oil and natural gas to power its economy.  Six in ten (61%) Canadians agree with this statement, including 26% who strongly agree and 36% who somewhat agree.  Just over two in ten Canadians (23%) disagree, including 16% who somewhat disagree, and just 7% who strongly disagree.  Sixteen per cent (16%) of respondents did not know enough to say. 

Likewise, about six in ten Canadians (61%) agree that they support Canada’s resource development industry overall (21% strongly and 40% somewhat), while only 19% disagree (14% somewhat and 5% strongly). Two in ten Canadians (20%) don’t know enough to say.

The data show that Canadians are supportive of Canadian oil and natural gas industry in general - especially during times of crisis and affordability / inflationary concerns - and see it as an important part of powering Canada’s economy.

Concerns about affordability

At the same time, Canadians are concerned about the rising cost of living. When asked how concerned they are about a list of items over the next few months, there was overwhelming concern about the cost of groceries (91%, 60% very concerned / 30% somewhat concerned), inflation (88%, 56% very concerned / 32% somewhat concerned) and the price of gasoline at the pump (85%, 60% very concerned / 25% somewhat concerned). 

When asked what they thought had contributed most to the rising cost of gasoline, heating and electricity, a plurality of Canadians say inflation has contributed most to the rising costs to heat their home (50%) and for electricity (53%), while a majority say global tensions contributed the most to the rising costs of gasoline (54%). 

Transition off oil and natural gas

Amid talk by governments across Canada of transitioning Canada off oil and natural gas, there is worry that the transition will be expensive – both to individuals and for everyone – and the transition process isn’t seen as either being fast or easy.

Close to seven in 10 Canadians (68%) agree that transitioning off oil and natural gas will be expensive for everyone (32% strongly agree and 36% somewhat agree), and a similar proportion (66%) agree it will be expensive for them personally (28% strongly agree and 38% somewhat agree).  Very few agree the transition will be fast (15%, 4% strongly agree / 11% somewhat agree) or easy (14%, 4% strongly agree / 10% somewhat agree). 

When asked how prepared they believe Canada is to make the transition off oil and natural gas in the next five years, two-thirds (65%) say we are either not very prepared (35%) or not at all prepared (30%) for the transition off oil and natural gas in the next five years.  Only 18% said we are either very prepared (3%) or somewhat prepared (15%), while 17% did not know enough to say.

About the Study

These are some of the findings of an Ipsos poll conducted between March 7 and 8, 2022, on behalf of the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers (CAPP). For this survey, a sample of 1,000 Canadians aged 18+ was interviewed. 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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