COVID-19 Public Opinion Research

What Canadians are feeling, thinking, and doing during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Individual Journeys

Government Response

Business Impacts

Public Health Impacts

 
 
 
 

Click on a category above to explore that topic in detail, or scroll down the page to review all of our latest COVID-19 survey results.

Individual Journeys

 

Government Response

 

Business Impacts

 

Public Health Impacts

 

COVID-19 RESEARCH: TOPICS AND ARTICLES

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Our COVID-19 Research

At INNOVATIVE we have been conducting in-depth research since March on how the COVID-19 pandemic has been impacting Canadians; their views of the government response; and the implications for businesses, public health agencies, and more.

Below you can navigate through all of our COVID-19 research to date. Use the sidebar to filter by specific categories, and review summaries of key indicators from each category.

Latest articles

December 23, 2021

Government approval on COVID is dropping as fears are rising once again

Today, Innovative Research Group Inc. released its latest tracking on COVID-related attitudes and behaviours. The online survey of 1,211 Canadians was conducted from December 16th to […]
November 10, 2021

Canadians’ Confidence in Access to Medical Care Declining

Canadians reported higher confidence in their ability to get treatment for serious medical problems during the COVID-19 pandemic than either before it, in 2019, or now, […]
October 8, 2021

Approval of Government Handling of COVID-19 is Stable Nationally, Still Dropping in Alberta

Approval of governments’ COVID-19 response is relatively stable nationally, but the national picture masks a sharp decline in Alberta and an increase in Ontario. These findings […]
August 13, 2021

Canadians Strongly Support Mandatory Vaccination in a Wide Variety of Circumstances

Canadians are re-engaging in social life, but they still take COVID seriously and want governments to require vaccination in a wide variety of circumstances. These findings […]
August 5, 2021

Canadians’ Approval for Governmental COVID-19 Response is High, Even as Fears of Catching COVID Grow Again

Approval of governmental action on COVID is holding its gains from July, although concerns about catching COVID are growing once again as variants spread across Canada. […]
July 27, 2021

Gen-Z Drivers in Ontario are Ready for a Road Trip, but They’re Feeling Less Confident Behind the Wheel

A new online poll of 1,647 licensed drivers conducted by INNOVATIVE on behalf of 407 ETR from June 15th to 21st, 2021, shows that Generation Z […]

Individual Journeys

Is COVID having an impact on Canadians in their daily life? Are they paying attention? Are they alarmed? Are they more anxious? Has COVID changed us in terms of our mental health and wellbeing?

Those are the questions we pursue in this topic.

Key indicator: Concern

 

Latest articles

May 28, 2021

Taking Stock of the Pandemic’s Impact on Wellbeing

There is no simple answer to the question “How has the pandemic impacted Canadians’ sense of wellbeing?”. From the beginning of the pandemic, direct measures show […]
May 7, 2021

Canadians grow more willing to be vaccinated

A new INNOVATIVE online poll of 4,150 Canadians finds 84% of adult Canadians are either already vaccinated or likely to do so. Almost half of the […]
May 7, 2021

Canadians less likely to take social risks in hot spots

A new INNOVATIVE online poll of 4,150 Canadians shows for the first time in the third wave Canadians are changing their social behaviour for the better. […]
May 7, 2021

COVID-19 fatigue growing

Fatigue with maintaining COVID-19 public health measures has reached a record high in a new INNOVATIVE online poll of 4,150 Canadian citizens. Well over a third […]
April 16, 2021

COVID-19 fears bump up but attention to COVID-19 news flat

A new online poll by INNOVATIVE of 2,390 Canadians shows conflicting trends in underlying COVID-19 attitudes. Canadians’ attention to COVID peaked in the earliest days of […]
April 16, 2021

Canadians continue to take moderate risks despite the rise in COVID-19 cases

A new online poll by INNOVATIVE of 2,390 Canadians shows no decline in the number of social activities Canadians are engaging in. The share of Canadians […]

Government Response

How do Canadian’s feel about their government’s during COVID-19? How well are governments responding to COVID-19? Are governments finding the right balance on restrictions? What do people expect of governments and what should their priorities be? Do governments have a plan and, if so, is it good or bad? Is how governments respond to COVID-19 making a difference politically?

This section looks at both the direct pressures on governments and the broader implications.

Key indicator: Approval

 

Latest articles

December 23, 2021

Government approval on COVID is dropping as fears are rising once again

Today, Innovative Research Group Inc. released its latest tracking on COVID-related attitudes and behaviours. The online survey of 1,211 Canadians was conducted from December 16th to […]
November 10, 2021

Canadians’ Confidence in Access to Medical Care Declining

Canadians reported higher confidence in their ability to get treatment for serious medical problems during the COVID-19 pandemic than either before it, in 2019, or now, […]
October 8, 2021

Approval of Government Handling of COVID-19 is Stable Nationally, Still Dropping in Alberta

Approval of governments’ COVID-19 response is relatively stable nationally, but the national picture masks a sharp decline in Alberta and an increase in Ontario. These findings […]
August 13, 2021

Canadians Strongly Support Mandatory Vaccination in a Wide Variety of Circumstances

Canadians are re-engaging in social life, but they still take COVID seriously and want governments to require vaccination in a wide variety of circumstances. These findings […]
August 5, 2021

Canadians’ Approval for Governmental COVID-19 Response is High, Even as Fears of Catching COVID Grow Again

Approval of governmental action on COVID is holding its gains from July, although concerns about catching COVID are growing once again as variants spread across Canada. […]
July 14, 2021

COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy: Black Canadian Perspectives

A new INNOVATIVE poll, in partnership with the African Canadian Civic Engagement Council (ACCEC) and Black Opportunity Fund (BOF), finds that vaccine hesitancy is still a […]

Business Impacts

How is COVID-19 changing the environment for business? How do Canadians perceive the economy and their own financial situation? Is COVID-19 impacting purchase intentions? How do Canadians feel about the way different sectors are responding to COVID-19?

This is where we help business understand the new realities they are facing.

Key indicator: Confidence

 

Latest articles

September 4, 2020

Canadians Support Decision to End CERB

Even among those currently receiving the benefits, Canadians support the Liberal government's decision to end CERB.
July 30, 2020

Health initiatives dominate as top priorities for government

Since the early days of the COVID-19 outbreak in Canada, INNOVATIVE has been tracking attitudes and reported behaviors impacted by the pandemic. Today, INNOVATIVE is releasing […]
July 10, 2020

Canadians still worried about COVID-19, although sense of wellbeing holds firm

Canadians Sense of Well-Being Holds Firm Despite COVID-19 Despite the fact that almost half of Canadian households have experienced a direct economic impact from COVID-19 and […]
June 3, 2020

Half of Canadians believe the economy needs to be radically transformed in light of COVID-19

As Canada looks to recover from the economic downturn caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, it is faced with the choice between rebuilding the economy as it […]
May 22, 2020

Canadians continue to support a free enterprise approach to the economy, but see big gov’t role in minimizing COVID-19 impacts and helping families cope

As the new case counts begin to decline in Canada, the immediate challenge facing the federal government will shift from health to economic recovery. Given this, […]
May 8, 2020

Canadians still believe it is too soon to lift restrictions, although intensity has dropped since April

Two-thirds of Canadians still believe it is too soon to start lifting restrictions. However, the number who say it is “Far too soon” has dropped from […]

Public Health Impacts

Are Canadians willing to do the things Public Health leaders ask of them? How active are Canadians socially? Are Canadians taking precautions when they leave the house? Who is being responsible and who is taking chances? Will Canadians take the vaccine when it is available?

This is where we try to understand the behavior of Canadians and what can be done about it.

Key indicator: Behaviour

 

For this tracking, we ask respondents how often they engaged in a list of behaviours in the past week. The behaviours are categorized as follows:

  • Least risky: Made a trip to a grocery store or a drug store
  • Modestly risky: Made a trip to a store other than a grocery store or a drug store; met up with a relative or friend outdoors; met up with a small group outdoors
  • Moderately risky: Visited a relative or friend in their home; Hosted a relative or friend in my own home
  • More risky: Gathered with a small group inside a home
  • Most risky: Attended a large gathering of about 50 people or more

The chart indicates the percentage of Canadians who reported engaging in at least one behaviour in that category at least once in the past week.

Latest articles

July 14, 2021

COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy: Black Canadian Perspectives

A new INNOVATIVE poll, in partnership with the African Canadian Civic Engagement Council (ACCEC) and Black Opportunity Fund (BOF), finds that vaccine hesitancy is still a […]
May 28, 2021

Local health providers, hospitals, and friends and family, will be key to influence vaccine hesitant and resisters

When it comes to connecting with people who remain hesitant or resistant to getting vaccinated, government leaders will need to make way for local health providers […]
May 28, 2021

Young People Closing the Gap with Older Canadians in Willingness to be Vaccinated

The share of Canadians willing to be vaccinated grew from 69% at the end of April saying they would definitely get vaccinated or reporting they are […]
May 7, 2021

Canadians grow more willing to be vaccinated

A new INNOVATIVE online poll of 4,150 Canadians finds 84% of adult Canadians are either already vaccinated or likely to do so. Almost half of the […]
May 7, 2021

Canadians less likely to take social risks in hot spots

A new INNOVATIVE online poll of 4,150 Canadians shows for the first time in the third wave Canadians are changing their social behaviour for the better. […]
May 7, 2021

COVID-19 fatigue growing

Fatigue with maintaining COVID-19 public health measures has reached a record high in a new INNOVATIVE online poll of 4,150 Canadian citizens. Well over a third […]

About this research

It is rare to have an event that has the far-reaching impacts of COVID-19. There are the direct health and economic threats. COVID-19 impacts how we live and how we feel. It is changing how we work, shop, study and play. There are implications for government and business.

With such a far-reaching event, no one survey allows us to explore the full range of consequences. Starting in March, INNOVATIVE began a project to track key questions on an ongoing basis. We have also taken a deep dive into many specific topics along the way. As of mid-November, INNOVATIVE has looked at COVID-19 in part or all of 17 surveys. So much information can be difficult to navigate.

With that in mind we have created this landing page to curate all the results and analysis we provide on how Canadians think, feel and act related to COVID-19. The main page lists all the posts we have created to date. However, if you have a more narrow focus, you can select the government, business, public health or personal journey icons on the left hand side of the page.

The surveys for this project are online surveys. Most waves are part of INNOVATIVE’s monthly Canada This Month study, but some are standalone surveys dedicated to COVID-19. Each report includes detailed methodologies for the studies the report is based on.

If there is a topic you are interested in but cannot find, please feel free to email us at info@innovativeresearch.ca and we will consider investigating it in future waves.

Stay up to date on our latest COVID-19 releases