Six in Ten Canadians (60%) Can’t or Don’t Want to Pay More Taxes to Help Fight Climate Change

A similar proportion (57%) considers the pipeline to be the safest means of transporting oil – a significant 10-point increase.

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  • Sébastien Dallaire Senior Vice President, Canada, Client Org
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Montreal, QC, November 23rd, 2022 — Fueled by persistent inflation and geopolitical uncertainty, increasing gas prices have cast a new light on the issue of Canada’s and Quebec’s energy needs. A survey carried out by Ipsos for the Montreal Economic Institute shows that, despite dropping 5 points compared to last year, six in ten Canadians (60%) can’t or don’t want to pay more taxes to fight against climate change. This proportion is higher among residents of the Western (66%) and Atlantic (67%) regions (vs. 56% for both Ontario and Quebec). Indeed, among those who are ready to pay more, the acceptable increase is $290 per year on average, representing a decline for the third consecutive year.

Meeting Canada’s energy needs: regional variations

When asked about the safest means of transporting oil, a majority of Canadians (57%) choose the pipeline, a significant 10-point increase compared to 2021. Inversely, 8% prefer by train (-3 pts), 10% by tanker truck (+3 pts) and 4% by ship (-1 pt); a fifth remain undecided (21%, -9 pts). Older Canadians are more likely to prefer by pipeline (70%: 55+ et 53%: 35-54 vs. 43%: 18-34), which is also the case for men (64% vs. 51% for women).

In the same vein, almost half of Canadians (49%) agree that the government should reverse its decision and approve the LNG Quebec project (22% completely, 26% somewhat), in order to export natural gas to Europe by passing through the Saguenay. Almost a quarter disagree (13% somewhat, 10% completely) while 28% remain undecided. Men (59% vs. 39% for women) and those aged 55 and over (56% vs. 41%: 18-34, 47%: 35-54) are more likely to agree.

Elsewhere, six in ten Canadians (59%) are favourable (17% somewhat, 42% strongly) with increasing incentive measures for carbon sequestration – a means for oil and gas extraction projects of reducing GHG emissions – in order to be equivalent to those offered by the American government. 18% remain unfavourable to the proposition (10% somewhat, 8% strongly), and more than a quarter don’t know (23%).

Interesting regional variations should be underlined. While Ontario (56%) as well as the West (62%) and Atlantic (64%) regions are more likely to consider the pipeline as safer compared to residents of Quebec (50%), Quebecers are more likely to choose the train (14% vs. 6%: West, 7%: Ontario, 9%: Atlantic). Similarly, Quebecers are more likely to oppose reversing the decision to reject the LNG project (30% vs. 18%: West, 23%: Ontario, 20%: Atlantic). Elsewhere, residents of the Western regions are more likely to be opposed to increasing incentive measures for carbon sequestration (22% vs. 16% for Ontario and Québec, 13%: Atlantic).

Increasing interest for oil and gas in Quebec

In terms of perceptions of Quebec’s energy supply, a majority (54%) are favorable to extracting Quebec’s own oil resources – a significant 11-point increase compared to 2021. Inversely, three in ten Quebecers (29%) would prefer to continue importing 100% of the oil it needs, which is higher among men (36% vs. 22% for women).

Similarly, in light of the war in Ukraine, six in ten Quebecers (61%) agree (26% completely, 35% somewhat) that Quebec should extract its own natural gas in order to export some to Europe and reduce its dependency on Russian gas. Almost three in ten (28%) disagree (16% somewhat, 12% completely).

Furthermore, eight in ten Quebecers (78%) prefer to import oil from Western Canada, a 7-point increase compared to last year. 9% would rather import oil from the United States, which is higher among younger age groups (11% for those aged 18-34 and 35-54 vs. 5%: 55+) and men (12% vs. 6% for women).

About the Study

These are some of the findings of an Ipsos poll conducted between November the 10th - 13th, 2022, on behalf of the Montreal Economic Institute. For this survey, a sample of 1,164 Canadian adults aged 18+ years was interviewed, including an oversample of 400 residents of Quebec. 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 ± 3.3 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:

Sébastien Dallaire
Senior Vice President, Ipsos Canada
General Manager, Ipsos Quebec
[email protected]

About Ipsos

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The author(s)
  • Sébastien Dallaire Senior Vice President, Canada, Client Org

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