Support for democracy among younger Canadians

There is no shortage of concern that support for democracy among younger generations is weakening. This report addresses this issue by reviewing results to survey questions grouped under five themes: satisfaction and trust; democracy compared to other forms of government; democratic norms; respect for civil liberties; and political disaffection.
The analysis of these results leads to these conclusions:

• First, younger Canadians don’t stand out as being particularly dissatisfied with democracy, less trusting of political actors or institutions, or less supportive of the political system. Nor are they less interested in politics than are middle-aged Canadians.
• A second, more concerning, finding is that younger Canadian adults are less emphatic in agreeing that democracy is the best form of government. While few of those in the youngest age group go as far turning toward authoritarianism, a larger proportion says it doesn’t really matter. Similarly, Canadians in this younger age group are less one-sided in their rejection of forms of politics that contravene traditional democratic norms (such as media censorship).

One additional theme is the lack of any recent, significant widening in the gaps in opinions between older and younger Canadians. Where gaps do exist, they are evident throughout the period covered by this series of surveys; they have not emerged in response to recent developments, be it the pandemic, the post-pandemic cost of living crisis, or the proliferation of smart phones and social media platforms.

The AmericasBarometer is a regular comparative survey of democratic values and behaviours that covers countries in North, Central and South America, as well as a significant number of countries in the Caribbean (the 2025-26 study will cover 20 countries). The project is led by the LAPOP Lab at Vanderbilt University’s Center for Global Democracy (CGD). The Canadian survey was conducted by the Environics Institute for Survey Research, in partnership with CGD’s LAPOP Lab at Vanderbilt University and with the support of the Max Bell Foundation.

The Canadian survey was conducted online with a sample of 3,550 Canadians (aged 18 and over) between July 30 and August 7, 2025. The results are weighted by region, age, gender, education and language so as to be fully representative of the Canadian population. The U.S. survey was conducted online with 1,600 Americans (18 years of age and older) between October 3 and 16, 2025. The results are weighted by region, age, gender, education and ethnicity so as to be fully representative of the American population.