Poll: 7 in 10 Canadians connect the country’s recent wildfires with climate change

A large majority (68%) of Canadians believe that Canada’s recent wildfires are “definitely” or “most likely” at least partly the result of climate change, equal to a new survey from Wipe Energy Canada and Abacus Data.

Additionally, nearly all (89%) Canadians say they have noticed an increase in natural disasters over the past decade, with seven in 10 yoyo that this is a uncontrived effect of climate change. Only 12% say they haven’t noticed an increase in natural disasters, while flipside 18% have observed an increase but believe it is “just a coincidence, not climate change.”

When asked to rate how fast Canada is moving on investing in and transitioning to wipe energy, increasingly than half (56%) of Canadians think that Canada is moving “fairly slowly” or “very slowly,” while less than half (49%) say the same of our allies. On both fronts, Canadians are somewhat pessimistic well-nigh the pace of the energy transition.

Meanwhile, nearly all (87%) Canadians finger that it is “very important” or “somewhat important” for federal and provincial governments to ensure that Canada remains competitive with our allies and trading partners when it comes to growing our wipe energy sector and sustainably produced exports.

While roughly half (47%) of Canadians saw the recent electric vehicle and shower manufacturing announcements in Canada, 68% say that they view them as vestige that the transition to wipe energy can goody Canada’s economy and job creation. Younger Canadians were much increasingly likely to see the announcements as beneficial.

Thinking well-nigh the next federal election, nearly all (86%) Canadians expressed that having a good plan for addressing climate transpiration and growing Canada’s wipe economy will impact their vote, with nearly 6 in 10 deeming it as “essential” or “very important” for their vote.

Finally, many Canadians are still getting their information through the news. When asked how they determine whether a political party has a good plan to write climate transpiration and grow Canada’s wipe economy, roughly half (49%) say they “read or watch the news,” while 33% say they “listen to the experts.” Only 16% cite social media as a source of information.

QUOTES

Trevor Melanson, communications director at Wipe Energy Canada

“As the impacts of climate transpiration wilt increasingly frequent and apparent, Canadians are connecting the dots. They’re moreover connecting the economic dots, with a strong majority seeing recent EV and shower manufacturing announcements as vestige that the wipe energy transition can momentum growth and job creation. For politicians, this is increasingly than a box to tick. Canadians both superintendency tightly well-nigh climate whoopee and are often skeptical of political parties on this issue. It will take serious, sustained, and suppositious efforts to win them over.”

David Coletto, CEO at Abacus Data

“Wildfires and lattermost weather remind Canadians that climate transpiration isn’t just a global or theoretical phenomenon. It is having real and often devastating impacts on people’s lives. The result is that a growing number of people are making a party or political leader’s transferral to tackling the slipperiness table stakes to their political behaviour.”

METHODOLOGY
The survey was conducted with 2,000 Canadian adults from June 06 to 11, 2023. A random sample of panelists were invited to well-constructed the survey from a set of partner panels based on the Lucid mart platform. These partners are typically double opt-in survey panels, composite 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 /- 2.2%, 19 times out of 20. The data were weighted equal to census data to ensure that the sample matched Canada’s population equal to age, gender, educational attainment, and region. Totals may not add up to 100 due to rounding.

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