Poll suggests 65 per cent of Canadians say borders should be closed to keep travellers home

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Calgary — A new poll suggests a majority of Canadians say if the decision were up to them, they would prohibit all international travel during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The poll, released Thursday by the Angus Reid Institute, found that 65 per cent of Canadians say international travel should be prohibited, while 26 per cent believe the federal government should maintain the current approach and strongly discourage international travel and nine per cent think they should leave it up to Canadians to decide if they want to travel abroad.

The online survey was conducted from Jan. 7-11 among a randomized sample size of 1,601 Canadian adults who are members of the Angus Reid Forum.

When it comes to Alberta, the poll, which surveyed 152 Albertans, asked the question: If it were up to you to set the government policy in Canada regarding international travel, what would you do?

The number of responses were somewhat lower than what was recorded on the national level:

Another finding was seven in 10 (or 'a majority') Canadians have put off planned international or domestic travel since the pandemic began.

A number of Canadian politicians have admitted to travelling abroad during the holidays despite the pandemic and, according to the poll, nearly 89 per cent of Canadians say that while travelling aboard may not be illegal, politicians should be held to a higher standard and stay home.

When Albertans were asked for their opinions on the responsibilities of elected officials 84 per cent say politicians should stay close to home and set a better example, while 16 per cent say politicians have the same right as anyone to travel abroad according to the survey.

To view full poll results you can visit the Angus Reid Institute online here.

The margin of error for a comparable probability-based random sample of a similar size is +/- 2.4 percentage point, 19 times out of 20.