Majority of Canadians Support Vaccine Passports for Variety of Indoor and Outdoor Activities

Toronto, ON, May 22, 2021 – A majority of Canadians support the idea of requiring proof of vaccination before they were permitted to engage in certain activities, according to a new Ipsos poll conducted on behalf of Global News. Support remains strong regardless of whether the activity is indoors or outdoors.

Support for Vaccine Passports to Do Activities

Activity	% Support (Strongly/Somewhat)	% Oppose (Strongly/Somewhat)
Visiting a senior’s facility	74% (45%/30%)	26% (12%/13%)
Flying on an airplane	72% (49%/23%)	28% (14%/14%)
Traveling internationally	71% (50%/21%)	29% (16%/13%)
Attending an indoor concert, event, museum, arena, theatre, etc.	67% (37%/30%)	33% (16%/17%)
Attending a post-secondary institutions (like a college or university)	67% (32%/36%)	33% (14%/19%)
Attending an outdoor concert, event, stadium, etc.	66% (31%/34%)	34% (17%/18%)

The data also reveal significant differences in opinion based on whether one has already been vaccinated. In every situation, those who have already received at least their first dose of the vaccine are much more open to personally providing proof of vaccination before being allowed to participate in certain activities.

 

Support for Vaccine Passports by Present Vaccination Status

Activity	% support among vaccinated	% support among not vaccinated
Visiting a senior’s facility	83%	63%
Flying on an airplane	83%	59%
Traveling internationally	82%	58%
Attending an indoor concert, event, museum, arena, theatre, etc.	80%	51%
Attending a post-secondary institutions (like a college or university)	80%	53%
Attending an outdoor concert, event, stadium, etc.	80%	49%

Clearly the issue is much more contentious among those who have not yet been vaccinated, with support hovering from a low of 49% (outdoor events) to a high of 63% (visiting senior’s facilities).

 

Canadians Continue to Approve of their Leaders’ COVID response, but Softening Slightly

Canadians continue to give strong marks, overall, to their leader’s response to the COVID-19 crisis:

• Just over half (54%) approve (15% strongly/39% somewhat) of the Prime Minister’s response to the COVID-19 crisis, down 6 points since January. Approval is higher among those who have been vaccinated (58%) than those who haven’t (50%).
• Six in ten (59%) approve (22% strongly/27% somewhat) of their provincial premier’s response to COVID-19, down 9 points since January. Approval is much higher among those who have been vaccinated (64%) than those who haven’t (52%).
• Seven in ten (69%) approve (14% strongly/55% somewhat) of their local municipal mayor’s response to COVID-19, down 4 points since January. Once again, approval ratings are higher among the vaccinated (73%) than the unvaccinated (64%).

 

% Who Approve (Strongly/Somewhat) of Leaders’ Performance in Managing COVID-19

	PM Justin Trudeau	Provincial Premier	Local Mayor
National	54%	59%	69%
British Columbia	56%	76%	69%
Alberta	39%	35%	65%
Saskatchewan/Manitoba	50%	44%	72%
Ontario	55%	50%	68%
Quebec	59%	76%	73%
Atlantic Canada	61%	68%	72%

A few observations from these figures:

• Both François Legault, the Premier of Quebec, John Horgan, the Premier of British Columbia, have the highest approval ratings for their response to the COVID-19 crisis. However, Quebecers are more likely to say they ‘strongly approve’ of Legault’s handling of the crisis (38%), whereas British Columbians are a little less enthusiastic about Horgan (28%).
• While provincial premiers, overall, are scoring 5 points higher than the Prime Minister is nationally, there are a few exceptions to this general trend:
  • In Alberta, the Prime Minister’s COVID-19 response approval rating (39%) is slightly outpacing that of Alberta Premier Jason Kenney’s (35%).
  • In Ontario, the Prime Minister’s ratings (55%) are higher than those of Premier Doug Ford (50%).
  • In Saskatchewan and Manitoba, the Prime Minister (50%) is outpacing the combined approval ratings of Premiers Moe and Pallister (44%).

Strong approval ratings, overall, are likely driven by the vaccination rollout. On this important topic, two in three (68%) agree (17% strongly/51% somewhat) that they are confident that the federal government will meet its goal of vaccinating most Canadians by the end of September, up 4 points since last month, and up 25 points since February.

 

Support for Mandatory Vaccinations Softens, But Still a Firm Majority; AZ Pause Hasn’t Caused More Hesitancy

Support for mandatory vaccinations in Canada has softened somewhat to 63% (30% strongly/32% somewhat), which is down 6 points since las month. While still representing a strong majority of Canadians, support is significantly higher among those who have already been vaccinated (74%) than those who are not vaccinated (49%).

Two in three (68%) agree (17% strongly/51% somewhat) that they are confident that the federal government will meet its goal of vaccinating most Canadians by the end of September, up 4 points since last month, and up 25 points since February.

Despite all of the news attention surrounding the AstraZeneca vaccine and the decision of governments to pause the rollout of this particular vaccine, other attitudes towards vaccines have remained fairly stable since last month, and, if anything, vaccine hesitancy has subsided somewhat – which is to be expected as more people become vaccinated.

• Eight in ten (78%) agree (49% strongly/29% somewhat) that they would personally take a COVID-19 vaccine as soon as they could, without hesitation, up 3 points since last month.
• A slim majority (54%) agree (19% strongly/35% somewhat) that they’re concerned about the potential long-term effects of taking a COVID-19 vaccine, down 4 points.
• Eight in ten (84%) agree (38% strongly/46% somewhat) that they should be able to choose which vaccine they receive, up 2 points.
• Six in ten (61%) unvaccinated Canadians agree (23% strongly/38% somewhat) that which vaccine they are offered will affect whether they get the vaccine, down 3 points.

There exists a marked difference in opinion on vaccinations between those who have been vaccinated, and those who haven not. In short, those who have not been vaccinated are less likely to think it should be mandatory, are less likely to say they’d take one without hesitation, are less confident that the government’s vaccinations goals will be met, are more likely to be concerned about the long-term effects of taking a vaccine, and are more likely to believe that they should get to choose which vaccine they receive.

Attitudes Towards COVID Vaccine: Those Vaccinated vs. Those Not Vaccinated

Statement	% agree among vaccinated	% agree among not vaccinated
I would personally take a COVID-19 vaccine as soon as I could, without hesitation	95%	57%
I should be able to choose which vaccine I receive	80%	88%
I am confident the federal government will meet its goal of vaccinating most Canadians by the end of September.	78%	56%
I support vaccinations against COVID-19 being mandatory for all Canadians	74%	49%
I am concerned about the potential long-term effects of taking a COVID-19 vaccine	40%	71%

This is all to say that the next 18 million doses may be more difficult to achieve than the first 18 million doses. Vaccine availability doesn’t necessarily mean a vaccinated population, and it might take some extra convincing to assuage the concerns of the unvaccinated before they’re ready to get the shot.

 

About the Study

These are some of the findings of an Ipsos poll conducted between May 12^th and 14^th, 2021, on behalf of Global News. For this survey, a sample of 1,001 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:

Sean Simpson
Vice President, Ipsos Public Affairs
+1 416 324 2002
[email protected]

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