Reports

Are Canadians more egalitarian than Americans? Are they more troubled by the existence of various forms of social inequality – such as those between rich and poor, men and women, white and Black – and more inclined to look to government to address them?

Income inequality is patently visible in today’s society. To what extent does the public look to their governments to act to narrow the gap between rich and poor, and how have such expectations changed over the past decade or so?

In the past few years, evidence has appeared suggesting that concerns about the implications of technological change may be growing. According to the most recent survey waves, a growing proportion of workers are now expressing concern with the pace of change in general, and more specifically with the prospect of automation leading to unemployment.

The latest wave of the Survey on Employment and Skills asked Canadians to think about what advice they would give to a young person regarding their career path.

As part of its Focus Canada public opinion research program (launched in 1976), the Environics Institute examined the ballot questions for the April 2025 federal election by asking voters to identify which issue was the most important to them personally in choosing which party to support.

This report presents the results of survey questions asking Canadians age 18 to 44 who are in the labour force about their expectations and experiences relating to having children and its impact on their careers.

Concerns about the impact of U.S. tariffs are contributing to a growing pessimism among Canadians about the economy, employment and their own financial situation.

Exploring how the shift to working from home is affecting job satisfaction, productivity, teamwork, and equity and inclusion is an important step in assessing the current state of the workplace in Canada.

The 2024 survey finds that the proportions of Canadians who feel financially worse off today than their parents were at their age, and who feel that the next generation will be worse off than they are, are both trending upwards.

In Canada, we commonly measure the extent of poverty by determining a poverty line. An alternative approach is to assess a household’s standard of living by looking at the goods and services it has, or has access to, and the activities in which it participates. This method of measuring poverty is called a material deprivation index (MDI).

Canadians are evenly divided on the relative priority that should be given to protecting the environment versus protecting jobs. The emphasis placed on environmental protection has declined since 2023 across the population.

The availability and affordability of housing has emerged as a top public policy issue. And it is one in which all governments – federal, provincial and territorial, and local – have a role to play.

Outcomes for second-generation immigrants are typically measured in terms of educational attainment, employment rates and income. These indicators are important, but they tell us little about the experience that second-generation have balancing the values and expectations of their immigrant parents with those of Canadian society more generally.

This report focuses on the extent of public support for democracy in Canada, and examines whether this support has been weakening over time. The analysis is based on the results of the Canadian portion of the AmericasBarometer surveys, which track opinions on a consistent set of questions about democracy and its alternatives.

In less than 10 years, one-quarter of Canada’s population will be aged 65 years and older. Fully understanding the circumstances and evolving needs of this ageing population requires collecting regular and reliable data from older Canadians themselves.

This report examines the perceptions of workers in the nonprofit sector and how these differ from workers in other sectors. Workers in the nonprofit sector have lower job satisfaction than workers in either the public or private sectors.

This report helps to fill the information gap by documenting how many Canadians have missed work or school due to COVID-19 in the 12 months prior to the time of the survey in March 2023, and the length of their absences.

The COVID-19 pandemic severely disrupted the workplace. Some businesses closed either temporarily or permanently. Others enabled their employees to work from home.

As immediate concern with the COVID-19 pandemic faded, new issues have appeared on the public’s agenda, the most prominent of which have been the cost of living and the affordability of housing.

Key findings are: Overall support for the equalization program in Canada remains steady; Support has increased in Alberta since 2019; Support remains steady in non-recipient provinces, but has fallen by 8 points since 2019 in recipient provinces. A 29-point gap between levels of support in Quebec and Alberta has narrowed to a 6-point gap.

The survey finds that younger Canadians have grown more dissatisfied with the way things are going in the country, and more pessimistic about prospects for the next generation.

The majority of those who have been working from home say they prefer this arrangement and want it to continue once the pandemic is over. And most of those who want to continue to work from home prefer to do so on a regular basis, rather than occasionally.

The Survey on Employment and Skills confirms that many Canadians find it a challenge to keep their work, family and personal lives in balance. But experiences vary widely. Some workers, such as those who are self-employed, are more likely to appreciate the flexibility of modern work arrangements

Efforts to improve public health and contain the spread of serious illness must focus on both the lack of paid sick days for many workers and the behaviour of those who have access to paid sick days but choose not to use them because of the prevailing workplace culture.

This report explores the experiences during the pandemic of younger adults, defined as those between the ages of 18 and 34.

This report from Wave 2 of the Survey on Employment and Skills examines the overall impact of the pandemic, as well as more specific experiences such as loss of hours of work, loss of employment or loss of income.

This report from Wave 2 of the Survey on Employment and Skills focuses on the experience of working from home.

The survey finds that Canadians tend to have a positive assessment of both the impact of technological change and the value of the post-secondary education and skills training that they have received.

The survey finds that Canadians tend to have a positive assessment of both the impact of technological change and the value of the post-secondary education and skills training that they have received.

A succession of economic downturns over the last decades has led many to express concerns that the next generation of Canadians will be less, and not more, well-off than the ones that preceded it.

Focus Canada is an ongoing public opinion research program that provides a credible, independent and sustained source of Canadian public opinion data on important issues facing the country.

Public opinion matters – in all countries, but especially in democracies like ours. Public opinion research in the public interest makes an essential contribution to good governance and meeting societal challenges.

Public opinion matters – in all countries, but especially in democracies like ours. Public opinion research in the public interest makes an essential contribution to good governance and meeting societal challenges.