The survey was conducted with 2,000 Canadian residents from March 12 to 17, 2021. A random sample of panelists were invited to complete the survey from a set of partner panels based on the Lucid exchange platform. These partners are typically double opt-in survey panels, blended to manage out potential skews in the data from a single source.
The margin of error for a comparable probability-based random sample of the same size is +/-2.13%, 19 times out of 20.
The data were weighted according to census data to ensure that the sample matched Canada’s population according to age, gender, educational attainment, and region. Totals may not add up to 100 due to rounding.
KEY FINDINGS
- Climate change is an important priority for Canadians, and a priority they believe can be actioned even as we deal with the pandemic. In fact, a majority of Canadians think the government needs to both act urgently to address climate change and to transition to more clean energy options.
- Eight in ten Canadians think it is at least somewhat important and for Canada to pursue a strategy to replace fossil fuels with electricity produced by non-emitting sources. A majority (56%) think a significant investment in clean energy sources should be made to replace fossil fuels with clean electricity in order to reach our net-zero emissions goal.
- Canadians also support a range of government actions on climate change, including directly increasing the share of electricity produced by clean energy, providing incentives for Canadians to switch to electricity in their homes, and reducing emissions from traditionally high emitting industries.
- The household reduction of energy consumption is expected to be a future focus (75% at least somewhat agree) for many Canadians.
- Canadians have taken some steps to reduce their energy consumption, including shutting down lights/ electronics when not in use (71%), converting to LED lights (64%), and being more conservative when it comes to heating/air conditioning (55%). More than half of Canadians use fossil fuels like natural gas, oil and propane for at least some of their household energy needs (particularly home heating) and almost all of these users of fossil fuels see some barriers to switching (primarily cost related).
To view the full survey, click here.