Small Majority (55%) of GTHA Residents Support Retail Sale of Cannabis in their Community, While 45% Oppose
Toronto, ON, April 2, 2019 — On the day that marks the first legal sale of cannabis at specialized stores across the GTHA, a small majority (55%, including 21% who strongly support and 34% who somewhat support) of residents 18 years of age and older living in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area indicate that they support the retail sale of cannabis in their local community, according to a new Ipsos poll provided exclusively to Global News. This compares to 45% who oppose such stores in their local community (including 25% who strongly oppose and 20% who somewhat oppose).
Support for the retail sale of cannabis is driven by younger people between the ages of 18 and 34 (65%), while support is lower for middle-aged (55%), and those residents 55 years of age and older (48%). Men are slightly more likely than women to support the sale of cannabis in their local community (58%, compared to 52%).
Residents across the region have differing opinions about their support for retail cannabis in their local community. On a broader regional basis, residents in the Hamilton area are the most supportive (69%), while residents in York Region are the least supportive (45%). On a more granular city or town level, residents from the City of Oshawa are the most supportive of retail cannabis stores (71%), while residents in the City of Vaughan are the most likely to oppose the retail sale of cannabis (60%) in their local community. In the City of Toronto, 58% of residents support the retail sale of cannabis, while 42% oppose.
Whether residents have children under the age of 18 living at home or not does not have an impact on support for the retail sale of cannabis as support is statistically equal among the two groups (53% and 56% support, respectively).
© 2019, Ipsos Limited Partnership
About the Study
These are some of the findings of an Ipsos poll conducted between March 7 to 18, 2019, on behalf Global News. For this survey, a sample of 2,500 adults living in Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area was polled. Weighting was then 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. The precision of Ipsos online polls is measured using a credibility interval. In this case, the poll is accurate to within ±2.3 percentage points, 19 times out of 20, had all Canadian adults 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:
Martin Hrobsky
Vice President, Ipsos Public Affairs
+1 416 324-2900
[email protected]
About Ipsos
Ipsos is an independent market research company controlled and managed by research professionals. Founded in France in 1975, Ipsos has grown into a worldwide research group with a strong presence in all key markets. Ipsos ranks fourth in the global research industry.
With offices in 89 countries, Ipsos delivers insightful expertise across five research specializations: brand, advertising and media; customer loyalty; marketing; public affairs research; and survey management.
Ipsos researchers assess market potential and interpret market trends. They develop and build brands. They help clients build long-term relationships with their customers. They test advertising and study audience responses to various media and they measure public opinion around the globe.
Ipsos has been listed on the Paris Stock Exchange since 1999 and generated global revenues of €1,780.5 million in 2017.
