(Canadian Press)

By David Opinko

Canadians’ level of trust in governments, businesses, the public during pandemic: Stats Canada

Jun 26, 2020 | 11:19 AM

LETHBRIDGE, AB – As more parts of the economy reopen during the COVID-19 pandemic, a new study from Stats Canada is showing who Canadians tend to trust during these uncertain times.

Approximately 37,000 people took part in an online questionnaire from May 26 to June 8, but it should be noted that this is not truly a random representative sample since people went out of their way to fill out the survey on Stats Canada’s website instead of having Stats Canada reach out to people randomly.

When it comes to people following public health guidelines during periods of reopening, about three-quarters (76%) said they trust the general public to do their part.

Canadians were more likely trust federal public health officials (74%) and elected members of the various levels of government (55-62%) to make good decisions about how and when businesses should reopen than individual business owners themselves (41%).

Younger people tended to have lower levels of trust towards some authority figures.

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They were less likely to express high levels of trust in businesses and governments, with the differences being 12-20 percentage points. The numbers were much closer to other age groups when it came to trusting public health officials.

There was also a difference in trust levels for those who have been negatively financially impacted by the pandemic.

Among those whose wallets have been hurt over the last few months, 62% trusted the general public’s response while 81% of those who had no significant financial impact said the same.

Proportion of Canadians expressing high levels of trust. (Stats Canada)

Levels of trust by age group. (Stats Canada)

Levels of trust by financial impact as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. (Stats Canada)