The most recent survey from the Modalis Omnibus finds that an increasingly large majority of Canadians think Canada is moving in the wrong direction.
Key findings in this release:
- Over the past few years the number of disaffected Canadians has grown significantly
- Cost of living and housing affordability are big factors in Canadians’ discontent
- Unhappiness tracks closely with shelter costs
There has been a steady increase in the number of Canadians who think Canada is moving in the wrong direction
Québécois are the least unhappy at just 61%, while Albertans are the most with 81% saying the country is moving in the wrong direction.
Cost of living, Liberals, and housing affordability dominate Canadians' reasons for their discontent
We asked those who said the country is moving in the wrong direction their reasons for saying so.
High shelter costs track most firmly with unhappiness about Canada
Across various demographics, shelter costs correlate most strongly with unhappiness about the direction of Canada.
There is a progressive increase in the level of disaffection and higher shelter costs. Among those paying 50% or greater in shelter costs (12% of homeowners and 22% of renters), there is near universal unhappiness with the direction of the country.
Discussion
Housing affordability and cost of living are stirring high levels of unhappiness across the Canadian population. Until this is brought under control, it is difficult to see how Canadians will return to their ‘sunny ways’.
It is equally difficult to imagine with these data that the current federal government can reverse its fortunes before the next election.
Methodology
These results come from the latest Modalis Omnibus which is powered by the Modalis Public Opinion Panel – 100% recruited using random probability telephone sampling. Unlike other research panels, Modalis contains no AI bots or ‘professional’ respondents.
Because the Modalis panel is built entirely using random probability sampling, it is valid to cite the margin of error for this survey. The survey is based on a representative sample of 1,604 Canadian adults and has a margin of error of +/- 2.4% points, 95 times out of 100. The survey data was collected from July 24 to August 7 and is weighted by age, gender, and region according to the latest Statistics Canada census.
