By Canadian Press

Majority of Quebecers support mandatory health-care worker vaccination: Leger poll

Sep 18, 2021 | 5:03 AM

MONTREAL — More than three-quarters of Quebecers support mandatory vaccination for health-care workers, according to a new Leger poll, which also found strong support for vaccine passports across the country.

Seventy-six per cent of survey respondents in Quebec said they support mandatory vaccination for health-care workers, including 57 per cent who said they strongly support the mandate. 

Health-care workers in Quebec have until Oct. 15 to get two doses of a COVID-19 vaccine or risk being suspended without pay.

Respondents 55 and over were the most likely to support the mandate, with 89 per cent in favour, while respondents 18 to 34 were the least supportive, with 36 per cent saying they oppose it. Support was strongest in urban areas, where there was 82 per cent approval, compared with 63 per cent in rural Quebec.

Outside the province, 75 per cent of respondents said they approve of mandatory vaccination for health-care workers, with the strongest support in Atlantic Canada (83 per cent) and British Columbia (82 per cent). Albertans were the least likely to support the mandate, with 65 per cent saying they’re in favour of it.

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The survey, conducted in collaboration with The Canadian Press and the Association for Canadian Studies, also found strong support for vaccine passports across the country, with 79 per cent of respondents in favour. Seven provinces require, or currently plan to require, people to show proof of vaccination to access certain non-essential activities and services.

Support for vaccine passports was highest in Atlantic Canada, at 85 per cent, and British Columbia, at 84 per cent. It was lowest in Alberta, at 63 per cent.

Across the country, support for vaccine passports was highest among those 55 and over, at 87 per cent, and those who live in urban areas, at 83 per cent.

The survey found that the majority of respondents across Canada are satisfied with the measures put in place by their provincial governments, as well as the federal government, however support for those measures differed widely from province to province. 

People living in Atlantic Canada were the most supportive of the actions taken by their provincial governments, at 80 per cent, followed by Quebecers (76 per cent) and British Columbians (75 per cent).

Albertans were the least supportive of the measures put in place by their provincial government, with just 23 per cent of respondents saying they approve.

Support for the measures put in place by the federal government followed a similar pattern, with 77 per cent of respondents in the Atlantic provinces in support, followed by 65 per cent in B.C. and 61 per cent in Quebec. 

Respondents form Alberta were also the least supportive of the federal measures, with 48 per cent saying they approve.

The survey of a representative sample of 1,549 Canadians who are members of Leger’s online panel was conducted from Sept. 10 to Sept. 12. A margin of error cannot be assigned to a panel survey because it’s not considered a truly random sample.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 18, 2021.

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This story was produced with the financial assistance of the Facebook and Canadian Press News Fellowship.

Jacob Serebrin, The Canadian Press