Some Smooth Sailing in Midst of Senate Storm: Four in Five (81%) Canadians Back Harper Government's Canada-EU Free Trade Deal

Toronto, ON - With the Harper Conservative government in damage control mode after another week of the Senate spending fiasco, the Tories can find some silver lining in the court of public opinion as a vast majority of Canadians appear to back their tentative free-trade agreement with the European Union, according to a new Ipsos Reid poll conducted on behalf of CTV News.

Four in five (81%) Canadians are `supportive' (25% very/56% somewhat) of the pending free-trade deal, while just one in five (19%) are `not supportive' (5% not at all/13% not very) of the deal.

The deal, which was signed by Prime Minister Harper and European Commission President Jose Manual Barroso on October 18th, has been hailed as the biggest trade deal ever concocted between Canada and another trading partner.

The deal, when fully ratified in 2015, would give Canada access to the 28-member European Union and its hundreds of millions of consumers and trillions of dollars in yearly consumer activity, according to the Harper government.

Some of the details are yet to be hammered out and communicated, and the deal is already causing concern for some sectors of the Canadian economy - dairy farmers, for example. The government has said, however, that it is devising a strategy for compensating those sectors which would be adversely affected by the new deal.

Initially, a vast majority of Canadians in every demographic group studied support the free-trade deal. Nearly nine in ten (89%) residents of British Columbia and Atlantic Canada (88%) support the deal, followed by those living in Alberta (82%), Ontario (80%), Quebec (79%) and Saskatchewan and Manitoba (72%).

Those with a university degree (88%) or some post-secondary education (83%) are more likely than those with a high school diploma (80%) or less (67%) to support the free-trade deal.

At this early juncture, support appears to be broad - however, this could change down the road as more information becomes available.

These are some of the findings of an Ipsos Reid poll conducted between October 22nd to 24th, 2013 on behalf of CTV News. For this survey, a sample of 1,009 Canadians from Ipsos' Canadian online panel was interviewed online. 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 +/- 3.5 percentage points had all Canadians adults been polled. 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:

John Wright
Senior Vice President
Ipsos Reid
Public Affairs
416.324.2002
[email protected]

About Ipsos Reid

Ipsos Reid is Canada's market intelligence leader, the country's leading provider of public opinion research, and research partner for loyalty and forecasting and modelling insights. With operations in eight cities, Ipsos Reid employs more than 600 research professionals and support staff in Canada. The company has the biggest network of telephone call centres in the country, as well as the largest pre-recruited household and online panels. Ipsos Reid's marketing research and public affairs practices offer the premier suite of research vehicles in Canada, all of which provide clients with actionable and relevant information. Staffed with seasoned research consultants with extensive industry-specific backgrounds, Ipsos Reid offers syndicated information or custom solutions across key sectors of the Canadian economy, including consumer packaged goods, financial services, automotive, retail, and technology & telecommunications. Ipsos Reid is an Ipsos company, a leading global survey-based market research group.

To learn more, please visit www.ipsos.ca.

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. In October 2011 Ipsos completed the acquisition of Synovate. The combination forms the world's third largest market research company.

With offices in 85 countries, Ipsos delivers insightful expertise across six research specializations: advertising, customer loyalty, marketing, media, 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 e1,789 billion (2.300 billion USD) in 2012.

Visit www.ipsos.com to learn more about Ipsos' offerings and capabilities.