Three Quarters of Canadians (76%), GTA Residents (73%) Support Potential Toronto Olympic Bid for 2024 Summer Games

Toronto, ON - While Toronto Mayor John Tory hasn't indicated one way or the other whether he supports the City of Toronto bidding for the 2024 Olympic Summer Games and appears to be deferring a decision until after the Parapan Am Games, a new Ipsos poll conducted on behalf of Global has revealed that Canadians, and residents of the GTA, support the idea of Toronto bidding for the Games.

Three quarters (76%) of Canadians `support' (29% strongly/48% somewhat) the idea of Toronto bidding to host the 2024 Olympic Summer Games, while one quarter (24%) are `opposed' to (11% strongly/13% somewhat) such an idea. In the GTA specifically, the overall story is similar with 73% supporting the idea of a bid, but more strongly support (41%) the idea than somewhat support it (32%). Conversely, 27% of GTA residents `oppose' (13% strongly/14% somewhat) the idea of an Olympic bid for the City of Toronto.

Interestingly, support for a potential 2024 (76%) bid is nearly identical to the 73% of Canadians who, in a 2001 Ipsos poll, favoured Toronto's bid for the 2008 Summer Games.

While the majority of Canadians and GTA residents alike support a bid, they do not want the funding for the bid to come from taxpayers: just four in ten (39%) Canadians `support' (9% strongly/30% somewhat) government spending taxpayers' money to help fund Toronto's Olympic bid' (down 5 points since the 2001 poll), while most (61%) `oppose' (34% strongly/27% somewhat) the use of public dollars to fund the bid. In the GTA, residents are split on whether they support (48% -- 16% strongly/32% somewhat) or oppose (52% -- 31% strongly/21% somewhat) the use of tax dollars to pay for the bid.

As an alternative to public funding, nine in ten (90%) Canadians `support' (56% strongly/34% somewhat) private funding from corporations to help fund Toronto's potential Olympic bid, while just one in ten (10%) `opposes' (4% strongly/6% somewhat) the idea. Similar results are found in the GTA, where most (87%) support (57% strongly/30% somewhat) the use of private corporate funding for the bid, and 13% oppose (6% strongly/7% somewhat).

These are some of the findings of an Ipsos poll conducted between July 31 and Aug 5, 2015 on behalf of Global News. For this survey, a sample of 1,409 Canadians (including an over-sample of 601 GTA residents total) 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 percentage points, 19 times out of 20, had all Canadian adults been polled (+/- 4.6 points for the GTA sample). 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:

Sean Simpson
Vice President
Ipsos Public Affairs
(416) 572-4474
[email protected]

About Ipsos in Canada

Ipsos 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 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' 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 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 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. Ipsos ranks third in the global research industry.

With offices in 86 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 e1,669.5 ($2,218.4 million) in 2014.

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