Canadians are less proud of and less attached to their country than they ever have been, with levels plummeting in recent years.
Poll results released by the Angus Reid Institute on Friday highlighted that the years following the pandemic have muddied the waters.
“The years since the onset of COVID-19 have been a well-documented period of division and discord in this country, with Canadians expressing concerns about the lack of a “middle” option politically, an unwillingness from governments to work together for the people, (and) weakening compassion and growing space between Canadians,” reads the poll.
In 1985, 78% of Canadians said they were “very proud” to be Canadian. This saw a slow but consistent fall between 1985 and 2003 to 68%. By 2016, the year after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau took office, the percentage had fallen to 52%. By 2024, this value fell off a cliff, reaching a mere 34%.
The study attributed much of the decline to the pandemic.
“Two years after the first COVID-19 lockdowns, 82% of Canadians said the pandemic had ‘pulled people further apart,’ while 61% said Canadians’ level of compassion for one another had grown weaker,” reads the report.
However, many other contributing factors were highlighted. Among them were provinces feeling they were getting a “raw deal” from the confederation, as evidenced by the governments of Alberta and Saskatchewan implementing Sovereignty Acts to stop federal government overreach.
Economic issues such as inflation and declining per capita GDP were also a cause for concern, according to the study. Adding to the pain felt by Canadians was the healthcare system – a once renowned system now subject to staffing shortages, long wait times, emergency closures, and a lack of family doctors.
In 1991, 65% of Canadians said they had a deep emotional attachment to Canada and loved what it stood for. This saw a slight drop in 2016 but fell to 49% by 2024. By this year, 8% of Canadians said they were not attached to Canada and wanted to see it split into two or three smaller countries. A smaller 6% of Canadians want the country to join the United States.
Conservative voters were the most likely to want to join the United States, at just over one in ten. Almost three-quarters of Liberal voters said they had a deep emotional attachment to Canada and love what it stands for.
The percentage of Canadians who felt they had a “deep emotional attachment” to Canada in 2016 was 62%. By 2024, this fell to 49%.
Residents of Manitoba and Atlantic Canada reported the strongest emotional attachment, but Alberta saw the largest decline between 2016 and 2024, where those with a “deep emotional attachment” fell from 67% to 47%.
The smallest drop was among Quebecers, who already had the lowest emotional attachment to Canada by a country mile – falling from 37% to 30% between 2016 and 2024.
However, Alberta was usurped by Saskatchewan for the biggest drop in pride, which saw a 28-point decrease between 2016 and 2024.
“A pride that was expressed by at least four-in-five in every province in 2016 is now reported by at most two-thirds in any part of the country,” reads the report.
Pride was affected by income level. Canadians with lower incomes were the least likely to express pride in the nation, while those with the highest earnings demonstrated the most national pride
The time someone has been in Canada also directly correlates with their pride in the country.
Those who had been here less than ten years not only had the lowest amount of pride but also saw the biggest decrease in pride between 2016 and 2024.
In 2016, 75% of Canadians who had been in the country for less than 10 years were proud of the country. By 2024, this had fallen to 46%, a decrease of 29%. Those who lived in Canada for 20 years or more were the most prideful group in both years.
Newcomers are also the most likely to associate their pride with economic conditions.
Those in the country for a decade or less were more likely to tie their pride to the quality of life Canada provides. Long-term residents, by contrast, tend to feel a deeper emotional connection.
Younger Canadians are also the least likely to be proud that they are Canadian.
Less than half, 48% of males between 18 and 34, are proud to be Canadian. The percentage is even worse for women in that age group, at 41%.