A new poll finds that the majority of Canadians believe government should make the wearing of face masks mandatory in public places.
According to a new Ipsos poll conducted for Global News, 79 per cent of Canadians agree that masks should be made mandatory in public places (42 per cent strongly/37 per cent somewhat). However, support for enforcing this measure varies greatly across the country.
Residents in Saskatchewan and Manitoba (84 per cent), B.C. (83 per cent), Ontario (83 per cent) and Quebec (80 per cent) are significantly more likely than those in Alberta (66 per cent) and Atlantic Canada (64 per cent) to support this measure. Ipsos notes that, "The gap is largely driven by an urban-rural divide: 80 per cent of urban-dwellers support this type of policy, while 67 per cent of rural Canadians support it."
And while the majority (71 per cent) of Canadians say they already wear a mask when they go inside public places, such as the grocery store, bank, attitudes vary greatly across Canada.
For instance, 82 per cent of respondents in Ontario say they already wear a mask, while 71 per cent of people in Quebec say they do. In British Columbia, that statistic falls to 68 per cent, and in Saskatchewan and Manitoba 65 per cent say they do. Atlantic Canada (59 per cent) and Alberta (53 per cent) are less likely to say they wear a mask.
Ipsos also finds a striking difference in urban versus rural Canadians. Most (72 per cent) urban residents say they wear a mask, while 55 per cent of rural Canadians do.
Four in 10 (41 per cent) Canadians take it a step further and say that they wear a mask whenever they leave their house, agreeing (15 per cent strongly/26 per cent somewhat) that even if they’re staying outside the whole time, they wear a mask. Urban (41 per cent) Canadians are more likely than rural Canadians (26 per cent) to say so.
Eight in 10 (82 per cent) agree (45 per cent strongly/37 per cent somewhat) that if everybody wore a facemask while in public, fewer people would contract COVID-19. Conversely, two in 10 (18 per cent) disagree (Five per cent strongly/13 per cent somewhat) that widespread wearing of masks would reduce COVID-19 transmission.
Majority of Canadians Expect Second Wave of COVID-19 in the Fall
The poll also finds that 77 per cent (22 per cent strongly/55 per cent somewhat) of Canadians agree that a second wave of COVID-19 will hit their community in the fall.
British Columbians (80 per cent), those in Saskatchewan and Manitoba (79 per cent), Ontario (79 per cent) and Quebec (78 per cent) are most likely to fear a second wave, followed by those in Atlantic Canada (70 per cent) and Alberta (63 per cent).
Canadians Support Mandatory Vaccinations, Once Developed
Nearly three quarters of Canadians agree that they support vaccinations against COVID-19 being mandatory once a vaccine is developed, unchanged since this question was first posed to Canadians in May.
Support for mandatory vaccines is highest in Saskatchewan and Manitoba (84 per cent), Quebec (77 per cent) and B.C. (77 per cent), while lower in Atlantic Canada (72 per cent), Ontario (69 per cent) and Alberta (63 per cent).
