Seven in Ten (70%) Support Canada's Involvement in North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA)

Toronto, ON - Seven in ten (70%) Canadians support Canada being in the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) with the United States and Mexico, up from 64% in January 2001. The proportion of Canadians who think the free trade agreement has benefited Canada has also increased from 40% in January 2001 to 51% today. One-quarter (25%) of Canadians today think NAFTA has hurt Canada, down from 32% in January 2001, and one-fifth (19%) continues to think it has had no impact (22% in January 2001).

With NAFTA having just passed its tenth anniversary, seven in ten (69%) Canadians also believe that it's a positive trend that the Canadian and U.S. economies have been growing closer together over the past few years.

These are the findings of an Ipsos-Reid/CTV/Globe and Mail poll conducted between June 3rd and 5th. The poll is based on a randomly selected sample of 1006 adult Canadians. With a sample of this size, the results are considered accurate to within 177 3.1 percentage points, 19 times out of 20, of what they would have been had the entire adult Canadian population been polled. The margin of error will be larger within regions and for other sub-groupings of the survey population. These data were statistically weighted to ensure the sample's regional and age/sex composition reflects that of the actual Canadian population according to the 2001 Census data.

Seven in Ten (70%) Support Canada's Involvement in NAFTA

Seven in ten (70%) Canadians support Canada being in the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) with the United States and Mexico, up from 64% in January 2001. One quarter (26%) oppose Canada's involvement, down from 32% in January 2001. The remaining 4% don't know how they feel about the matter.

• Decided Alliance voters (79%), decided Liberal voters (77%), decided PC voters (75%), and decided Bloc voters (74%) are significantly more likely than decided NDP voters (47%) and decided Green Party voters (63%) to support Canada's involvement in NAFTA with the United States and Mexico.

• Canadians who believe the growing together of Canadian and U.S. economies is a positive trend (86%) are more than twice as likely as those who think it is a negative trend (33%) to support Canada's involvement in NAFTA.

• Atlantic Canadians (77%), Albertans (75%), Quebecers (72%), and Ontarians (71%) are more likely than residents of British Columbia (56%) and Saskatchewan/Manitoba (64%) to support Canada's involvement in NAFTA with the United States and Mexico.

• Young adults (78%) are more likely than their middle-aged (67%) and older (65%) counterparts to support Canada's involvement in NAFTA.

• Canadians from upper income households (79%) are more likely than their counterparts from lower (61%) and middle (70%) income households to support Canada's involvement in NAFTA.

Half (51%) Think NAFTA has Benefited Canada

The proportion of Canadians who think the free trade agreement has benefited Canada has also increased from 40% in January 2001 to 51% today. One-quarter (25%) of Canadians today think NAFTA has hurt Canada, down from 32% in January 2001, and one-fifth (19%) continues to think it has had no impact (22% in January 2001).

• Decided Liberal voters (60%), decided Alliance voters (59%), decided PC voters (54%), decided Green Party voters (48%) and decided Bloc Quebecois voters (47%) are all more likely than decided NDP voters (33%) and to think the free trade agreement has benefited Canada. Decided NDP voters (39%) are the most likely to think the agreement has hurt Canada, followed closely by decided Green Party voters (33%). Decided Bloc voters (27%) are most inclined to believe the agreement has had no impact on Canada.

• Free trade supporters (66%) are significantly more likely than non-supporters (15%) to think the free trade agreement has benefited Canada, whereas non-supporters (61%) are significantly more likely than supporters (12%) to think the agreement has hurt Canada.

• Canadians who believe the growing together of Canadian and U.S. economies is a positive trend (65%) are almost three times as likely as those who think it is a negative trend (21%) to believe the free trade agreement has benefited Canada, while those who think it is a negative trend (54%) are four times as likely as those who think it is a positive trend (13%) to believe the agreement has hurt Canada.

• Residents of Alberta (62%) are most likely to believe the free trade agreement has benefited Canada, followed by Ontario (55%), Atlantic Canada (52%), Quebec (51%), and finally, Saskatchewan/Manitoba (46%). Residents of British Columbia (35%) are most likely to think it has hurt Canada.

• University graduates (61%) are more likely than others (48%) to believe the free trade agreement has benefited Canada, whereas Canadians without a university degree (23%) are more likely than those with (10%) to believe the free trade agreement has had no impact on Canada.

• Canadians from upper income households (64%) are more likely than those from lower (41%) or middle (50%) income households to believe the free trade agreement has benefited Canada, whereas Canadians from lower income households (30%) are more likely than their counterparts from middle (18%) and upper (12%) income households to believe the free trade agreement has had no impact on Canada.

Seven in Ten (69%) Consider Growing Together of Canadian and U.S. Economies a Positive Trend

With NAFTA having just passed its tenth anniversary, seven in ten (69%) Canadians also believe that it's a positive trend that the Canadian and U.S. economies have been growing closer together over the past few years (22% "very positive", 46% "somewhat positive"), while one-third (27%) think it's a negative trend (12% "very negative", 15% "somewhat negative").

• Decided Alliance voters (81%), decided Bloc voters (75%), decided PC voters (74%), decided Liberal voters (73%), and decided Green Party voters (70%) are more likely than decided NDP voters (54%) and to think the growing together of Canadian and U.S. economies is a positive trend.

• Free Trade supporters (85%) are almost three times as likely as non-supporters (29%) to consider this a positive trend.

• Residents of British Columbia (53%) are much less likely than others to think the growing together of Canadian and U.S. economies is a positive trend.

• Young adults (80%) are more inclined than their middle-aged (69%) and older (59%) counterparts to believe the growing together of the two economies is a positive trend.

• Canadians from upper income households (78%) are more likely than their counterparts from lower (61%) and middle (68%) income households to consider this a positive trend.

To view the release and detailed tables, please open the attached PDF files.

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For more information on this news release, please contact:
John Wright
Senior Vice-President
Ipsos-Reid Public Affairs
(416) 324-2900