The majority of Canadians say they believe the country has become more divided, with respondents citing the COVID-19 pandemic and the 2021 federal election as the most divisive issues in the past year, a new survey indicates.
Conducted between March 7 and March 24 by the Canadian Hub for Applied and Social Research at the University of Saskatchewan, the national phone survey asked 1,011 people about the issues that divide them the most.
About 75 percent of the respondents said they believe Canadian society has become more polarized.
The majority said the COVID-19 pandemic (72 percent) and the 2021 federal election (73 percent) were the two most divisive issues over the past year.
About 40 percent of respondents say they have reduced contact with friends or family members over an argument about the pandemic or politics.
The survey also suggested that people on the Prairies were more likely than in other regions to believe that the issues of climate change and gun ban were dividing Canadians.
Respondents living in central Canada didn’t think that the banning of guns was a divisive issue, the survey noted.
The survey indicated that Quebec respondents were less likely than those in other regions to believe that society has become more polarized.
Respondents in Quebec also said they were less likely than those in western Canada, including B.C., to have reduced their contact with friends and family due to differing views.
The survey is considered accurate within +/- 3 percentage points, with a 95 percent confidence level.
