Support for Mandatory COVID Vaccination in Canada Rises to 64%, Up 5 Points since November

Toronto, ON, January 16, 2021 – With vaccines being slowly rolled out across the country, support for the idea of making the COVID-19 vaccine mandatory for all Canadians is on the rise, according to a new Ipsos poll conducted on behalf of Global News.

Two in three (64%) Canadians agree (34% strongly/29% somewhat) that they support a mandatory vaccine, up 5 points since November, with support ranging as high as 71% in British Columbia and as low as 51% in Alberta. Canadians over aged 55 and over are most supportive of the vaccine being mandatory (73%), while those aged 18-34 (61%) and 35-54 (56%) are less supportive.

What’s clear is that, having now seen people around the world being vaccinated, Canadians are becoming more comfortable with the idea of being vaccinated themselves: 72% now agree (45% strongly/27% somewhat) that they would personally take a COVID-19 vaccine as soon as they could, without hesitation, up 20 points since November. Those in BC (88%), appear far more eager to receive the vaccine than those living in Quebec (72%), Ontario (69%), Alberta (67%), Saskatchewan and Manitoba (66%), and Atlantic Canada (65%). Men (76%) are more likely than women (67%) to say they’ll take the vaccine without hesitation, as are those aged 55+ (86%) when compared to those aged 18-34 (66%) and 35-54 (60%).

In terms of the order of precedence, eight in ten (82%) Canadians agree (34% strongly/48% somewhat) that vaccination efforts should focus on social-economically disadvantaged areas which have higher caseloads due to people who work in frontline jobs or live in multi-family households. Despite the slow rollout, most (79%) Canadians are optimistic (22% strongly/56% somewhat) that the COVID-19 vaccine will be effective at limiting the spread of COVID-19.

In terms of when Canadians think a vaccine will be available to them, most are not holding their breath that it will come imminently. Most Canadians believe they will not be eligible to receive the vaccine until the spring or summer months, although nearly one in five (18%) think they will not be eligible to receive the vaccine in 2021.  Interestingly, 26% of Canadians are eager to receive a vaccine this winter, but only 19% think it will be made available to them before the end of March. On the other side of the equation, 12% say they’ll never take the vaccine, even if available, while another 15% will opt to wait until 2022 or beyond. This all adds up to a potential backlash against public authorities if vaccines aren’t being delivered and distributed to meet what will be rapidly growing demand.

Canadians see a long road ahead of them, not just in terms of the vaccine rollout but also in terms of the return to economic stability and some sense of social normalcy. The chart below outlines when Canadians expect they’ll engage in these activities again, and when their spending and the economy will return to normal.

Of particular note, and perhaps exacerbated by the slow rollout of the vaccine, is that only 30% of Canadians expect to feel comfortable traveling in 2021, while most (70%) will not. Most Canadians also expect to avoid public gatherings (62%) and continue to hold back on their spending (51%) in 2021. It’s perhaps not surprising, then, that relatively few (28%) believe the economy will bounce back in 2021.

About the Study

These are some of the findings of an Ipsos poll conducted between January 5-6, 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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