Over Half of Canadians (52%) Not Confident that Government Will Meet its Vaccine Targets

Toronto, ON, March 9, 2021 – Amid President Joe Biden’s announcement that the United States will have enough vaccines for every American adult by the end of May, a new Ipsos poll conducted exclusively for Global News has found that under half of Canadians (48%) agree (9% strongly/39% somewhat) that they are confident that the federal government will meet its goals of having 3 million Canadians vaccinated by the end of March, and most Canadians by the end of September. While this is a 5-point rise in confidence since February, just over half (52%) of Canadians disagree (16% strongly/36% somewhat). This lack of confidence is most pronounced among Gen Xers (60%).

Optimism growing, but Canadians still expecting vaccine delays

Although Health Canada has recently approved a fourth COVID-19 vaccine, from Johnson & Johnson, there remains pessimism on when Canadians will have access to vaccinations. Few (30%) of those who haven’t yet received the vaccine believe it will be available to them by June, and only 25% believe they’ll opt to receive a COVID-19 vaccine by June, if available to them.

That said, there are signs a fragile optimism may be building: Looking ahead to the September deadline, two in three (66%) expect the vaccine will be available to them – a 6-point increase compared to last month.

Strong support for vaccine despite slow roll-out

Despite many Canadians not expecting to receive a vaccine for some time to come, a growing majority (69%, up 3 points since February) say they would take a COVID-19 vaccine as soon as possible, without hesitation (including 45% who agree strongly).

On this point, there is less uniformity: BC (73%) residents are the most open to receiving the vaccine right away, ahead of those living in Alberta (70%), Quebec (70%), Ontario (69%), the Prairies (67%), and Atlantic Canada (55%). Among age groups, older Canadians – who are most vulnerable to the ravages of COVID-19 – are most willing to be vaccinated immediately: 82% of Canadians 55 and over agree, compared to 69% of those aged 18-34 and just 56% of those 35-54.

Six in ten (60%) support making COVID-19 vaccines mandatory for all Canadians. Support is stronger among those aged 18-34 (63%) and 55+ (68%) than those aged 35-54 (50%). Once again, Atlantic Canadians appear more wary: only 50% support the vaccine being mandatory.

While most Canadians are looking forward to being vaccinated, they will not be worry-free when the roll up their sleeves:

• A majority (58%, unchanged) agree (23% strongly/35% somewhat) they are concerned about the potential long-term effects of taking a COVID-19 vaccine. The concern is more pronounced among those aged 18-34 (62%) and 35-54 (67%).
• Over half (55%, -3 pts) agree (23% strongly/32% somewhat) that taking a vaccine that was created and approved so quickly makes them nervous. Once again, this was most pronounced among those aged 18-34 (54%) and 35-54 (68%).

As the rollout moves toward a critical mass of Canadians being vaccinated, there are questions about how and whether those vaccinated should identify themselves when interacting with others outside their immediate households. A significant majority of Canadians – nearly three in four (72%) – support requiring proof of vaccination for people who want to engage in activities, such as flying, attending indoor concerts or events. This opinion is more pronounced among women (76%) compared to men (68%). When looking at political affiliation, those who say they will vote for the New Democratic Party (84%) and the Liberal Party (80%) are in support, compared to Bloc Québécois voters (68%), and those who would vote for the Conservative party (65%), or the Green Party (61%).

Re-engaging with the economy

With the vaccine rollout having now moved on from long-term care residents and frontline healthcare workers to the general public, there are early indications that Canadians may be feeling marginally more ready to re-engage with the economy than was the case just a month ago.

Though the changes are small, overall, more Canadians say they are ready to consider travelling internationally, attend public gatherings, and return to pre-COVID levels of spending this month, than was the case a month ago. There is still significant apprehension about some aspects of re-engagement, with international travel likely to remain off-limits for most Canadians until 2022 at the earliest.

About the Study

These are some of the findings of an Ipsos poll conducted between March 2-3, 2021, on behalf of Global News. For this survey, a sample of 1,000 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:

Darrell Bricker
CEO, Ipsos Global Public Affairs
+1 416 324 2001
[email protected]

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