Canadian public opinion about conflict in the Middle East

The outbreak of war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza has had an unprecedented impact on Canada. Since last fall, the country has witnessed rising levels of hate-motivated actions against Jews, Muslims and Arabs, sustained protests on university campuses, and heated rhetoric from public figures over what should be done. Conflict in the Middle East, and the underlying politics behind it, have created divisions among some Canadians and groups in a way that has never been seen before.

How do Canadians as a whole view the current war between Israel and Hamas? How has their perspective about conflict in the region changed over time? These questions were addressed through a national survey conducted by the Environics Institute for Survey Research, in partnership with the Canadian International Council (CIC). This survey is part of the Institute’s ongoing Focus Canada research program, which was launched in 1976 to measure Canadian public opinion on important issues over time as a matter of public record. This survey included four questions to provide a current snapshot of public opinion, three of which were repeated from previous Focus Canada surveys dating back to the early 1980s that reveal how opinions have changed over time. This latest survey was based on telephone interviews conducted (via landline and cellphones) with a representative sample of 2,000 Canadians (ages 18 and over), between June 3 and 16, 2024.

This latest survey reveals that the conflict has captured the attention of Canadians writ large, but has not divided the population as a whole more substantially than in previous decades. Comparisons with Focus Canada surveys stretching back four decades shows that most Canadians continue to adopt a neutral position rather than express sympathies for either side in the conflict. At the same time, the public is now less sure than in past years about the Canadian government’s foreign policy in this region, perhaps due in part to the complexity of the conflict and the heavy toll on civilians on both sides.

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