Most (85%) Canadians Support Idea of Calgary Olympic Bid, But Only Half (51%) Support Use of Federal Tax Dollars to Help Fund City’s Bid

Calgary, Alberta, April 3, 2018 — Most Canadians support the idea of a Calgary bid for the 2026 Olympic Winter Games, but only half support the use of taxpayer dollars to help fund the bid, according to a new Ipsos poll conducted for Global News.

Nine in ten (85%) ‘support’ (39% strongly/47% somewhat) the idea of Calgary hosting the games, while relatively few (15%) ‘oppose’ (5% strongly/9% somewhat) the notion. Paying for the bid, however, is a more contentious issue:

• Half (51%) of Canadians ‘support’ (11% strongly/40% somewhat) the federal government using Canadian taxpayers’ money to help fund the bid, while half (49%) ‘oppose’ (19% strongly/29% somewhat).
• Half (49%) of Albertans ‘support’ (15% strongly/34% somewhat) the provincial government using Albertan taxpayers’ money to help find Calgary’s Olympic bid, while 51% ‘oppose’ (21% strongly/30% somewhat).
• Six in ten (57%) Albertans ‘support’ (15% strongly/42% somewhat) the municipal (Calgary) government using Calgarian taxpayers’ money to fund Calgary’s Olympic bid, while four in ten (43%) ‘oppose’ (18% strongly/25% somewhat). Among Calgarians surveyed, specifically, 49% support (18% strongly/32% somewhat), while 51% oppose (29% strongly/22% somewhat) the use of City dollars to help pay for the bid. (note: The Calgary data is based on a smaller sample size of n = 138, so the data should be interpreted as directional, as the credibility interval is +/- 9.5 percentage points).
• Nine in ten (92%) Canadians ‘support’ (46% strongly/46% somewhat) using private funding from corporations to help fund Calgary’s Olympic bid. Just one in ten (8%) ‘oppose’ (3% strongly/6% somewhat) this idea.

Sentiment towards hosting the Olympics and the potential economic benefits are largely positive:

• Most Canadians agree that hosting the Winter Olympics would provide a major boost to the economy of Calgary (84% agree – 31% strongly/53% somewhat), Alberta (83% agree – 29% strongly/53% somewhat) and Canada (75% agree – 23% strongly/52% somewhat).
• Eight in ten (82%) agree (25% strongly/57% somewhat) that Calgary’s experience hosting the Games in 1988 makes it an ideal choice of host city for 2026.
• Nearly half (45%) of Canadians agree (13% strongly/31% somewhat) that they would seriously consider attending an event if the 2026 Olympic Winter Games were held in Calgary, including 72% of Albertans (33% of whom strongly agree). Six in ten (63%) Millennials in Canada say they’d consider attending the Games – 24% strongly.

Given the cost of the Olympics, however, there are skeptics about the benefits and many are worried about the potential costs or dangers of hosting such a high-profile event:

• Six in ten (66%) ‘agree’ (17% strongly/48% somewhat) that the cost of hosting the Olympics is so high that Calgary risks going into serious debt over it. Only one in three (34%) ‘disagree’ (5% strongly/30% somewhat) that serious debt is a possibility.
• Four in ten (40%) ‘agree’ (13% strongly/28% somewhat) that there is too much scandal and corruption with international sport that hosting the Olympics is just not worth it. Six in ten (60%) ‘disagree’ (12% strongly/48% somewhat) with this premise.
• Four in ten (36%) ‘agree’ (8% strongly/28% somewhat) that if Calgary were to host the Olympics they’d be worried that a major security incident or terrorist attack could occur. A majority (64%) ‘disagrees’ (16% strongly/48% somewhat) that this is a source of worry for them.

Taking everything into consideration, Canadians are nearly evenly split on whether the risks of hosting the Olympics outweigh the benefits. Nearly half (44%) agree (10% strongly/34% somewhat) that the risks outweigh the benefits, while just over half (56%) disagree (11% strongly/45% somewhat), suggesting there are more benefits than drawbacks.

About the Study

These are some of the findings of an Ipsos poll conducted between March 23 and 27, 2018, on behalf of Global News. For this survey, a sample of 1,303 Canadians aged 18+ was interviewed online via the Ipsos I-Say panel and non-panel sources, including an over-sample of n = 400 Albertans. Quota sampling and weighting were employed to balance demographics to ensure that the sample's composition reflects that of the adult population according to Census data and to provide results intended to approximate the sample universe, both within Alberta and nationally. The precision of Ipsos online polls is measured using a credibility interval. In this case, the poll is accurate to within ±3.1 percentage points, 19 times out of 20, had all Canadian adults been polled, and n +/-5.6 points for the sample of Albertans. 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:
Jamie Duncan
Vice President, Ipsos Public Affairs
+1 403 969 3235

About Ipsos Public Affairs

Ipsos Public Affairs is a non-partisan, objective, survey-based research practice made up of seasoned professionals. We conduct strategic research initiatives for a diverse number of Canadian American and international organizations, based not only on public opinion research, but elite stakeholder, corporate, and media opinion research.
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About Ipsos

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