Just 26 per cent of Canadians support a federal election in the fall, Nanos poll suggests

ottawa -

Only 26 per cent of Canadians support the prospect of a federal election in the fall, according to a new poll.

The latest survey from Nanos Research, commissioned by CTV News, found that 37 per cent of Canadians were upset at the thought of a fall election, 34 per cent were unsure about it, and 26 per cent were happy at the thought of an election in the coming months.

While an election is yet to be officially called, speculation is mounting it could happen in the coming weeks, as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has toured the country for various funding announcements.

During a housing announcement in Hamilton, Ont., on Tuesday, Trudeau was asked about when voters might head to the polls. He dodged the question, indicating that funding announcements were a way of getting out and meeting Canadians.

“We're announcing a lot this summer because over the last year and a half, we all spent a lot of time on Zoom and it's nice to be here in person to talk about the work that we've done over the past year,” he told reporters.

“These are the things we've been working on and right now I'm very glad to be here with friends and partners and can continue to talk about the difference we're making Canadians lives as we build back better.”

When it comes to conducting an election during the pandemic, Canadians seem to be in favour of voting by mail.

The survey found that 37 per cent of Canadians said they would be interested in voting by mail instead of in person during an upcoming election, while another 24 per cent indicated that they were “somewhat interested” in the idea.

On the other side, 26 per cent of Canadians were not interested in an election by mail, while another 11 per cent were “somewhat not interested.”

Last month, Canada’s Chief Electoral Officer Stephane Perrault said Elections Canada would be ready for a snap election if one were to be called, including procurement of personal protective equipment, increased capacity for mail-in ballots and planned deployment of drop boxes inside polling stations. 

METHODOLOGY

Nanos conducted an RDD dual frame (land- and cell-lines) hybrid telephone and online random survey of 1,051 Canadians, 18 years of age or older, between June 30th and July 5th, 2021 as part of an omnibus survey. Participants were randomly recruited by telephone using live agents and administered a survey online. The sample included both land- and cell-lines across Canada. The results were statistically checked and weighted by age and gender using the latest Census information and the sample is geographically stratified to be representative of Canada.

Individuals randomly called using random digit dialling with a maximum of five call backs.