Canadians Generally Support Bills to Fast-Track Development
Engagement is low with the federal and provincial fast-track bills, meaning these initial support numbers are subject to change as Canadians pay more attention.
These results come from an online poll conducted between June 19th and June 30th, 2025, of 2,000 Canadian citizens, 18 years or older. This survey was sponsored by INNOVATIVE Research Group Inc. and weighted to n=1,500 based on age, gender, region, education, and self-reported past federal vote to ensure the overall sample reflects the population according to Census data.
So far, so good for the Federal government’s Bill C-5, with 43% of Canadians saying they support the bill. We see higher approval among self-identified Liberals, young adults, and conservative value clusters. Two-thirds of Canadians (67%) agree new investment is needed for competitiveness, and 59% see too many vetoes in the current system.
42% of Canadians agree that necessary projects are already getting built, more than half of whom also support Bill C-5 – an intriguing contradiction. Opposition among those who see a problem getting things built, but still don’t support C-5, falls into three broad streams perhaps best summarized in their own words. We see a stream of hostility to government in general: “Gives government too much control”, or “Government should not be involved”. There is also a stream of hostility toward Liberals in particular: “If it is wanted by the liberals it would not be good for the people of the country”. Finally there is a stream of people concerned on environmental and/or Indigenous rights grounds: “Too subject to corporate interests over Indigenous rights as well as overriding environmental and climate issues”. Among all respondents 40% of Canadians worry C-5 disregards Indigenous rights, and nearly a third oppose the bill’s centralization of power.
At the provincial level Ontario’s Bill 5 is more divisive, with almost as many Ontarians opposing (30%) as supporting (32%) Bill 5. Young people and Conservatives are most supportive, with opposition highest among New Democrat supporters. In British Columbia bills 14 and 15 are widely supported, enjoying majority support across all partisan loyalties.
Crucially, however, public familiarity with these bills is not especially high. The majority of respondents report they are not particularly familiar with all three bills. With awareness at such relatively low levels in all three jurisdictions, there is lots of room for in public opinion should Canadians become more engaged. How the coming months see any or all of these bills used will determine which direction public support moves.
