The majority of Canadians do not believe they are living on land that was stolen from Indigenous peoples, according to a new public survey.
The Association for Canada Studies & Metropolis Institute published the results from its public opinion poll on Monday, which found that 52 per cent of Canadians didn’t believe they lived on stolen land.
However, a smaller cohort of 27 per cent said they did believe they lived on stolen land, while the remaining 21 per cent said they either didn’t know or declined to answer.
Age played a major factor in whether this sentiment was accepted. The younger the respondent was, the more likely they were to agree and vice versa.
Respondents aged 18 to 24 were most likely to agree, with 41 per cent saying they lived on stolen land, compared to the 37 per cent who refuted the notion.
Meanwhile, respondents over the age of 65 were the least likely to agree, with 65 per cent saying they did not live on stolen land, compared to 15 per cent who said they did.
Where people lived also affected their opinion on the issue, with rural Canadians being less likely to agree than those living in urban areas.
More than half of rural Canadians, 56 per cent, rejected the statement “I live on stolen Indigenous land,” while 24 per cent said they did and 20 per cent either didn’t know or declined to answer.
Fifty per cent of people living in the suburbs disagreed, compared to the 29 per cent who did. The remaining 21 per cent didn’t provide an answer.
That number slightly declined with urban dwellers: 46 per cent of whom disagreed, compared to 34 per cent who agreed and 20 per cent who didn’t answer.
Residents of Calgary were the most likely to reject this notion of stolen land at 69 per cent, whereas Edmontonians, only 300 kilometres away, were the least likely at 41 per cent.
Montrealers were the second most likely to reject this notion, followed by Hamilton – Niagara Peninsula and the Greater Ottawa area, both at 50 per cent.
There was also a notable difference in rejecting the notion between people who owned their homes and renters, at 53 per cent and 42 per cent, respectively.
Among Indigenous respondents, 53 per cent agreed that they lived on stolen land, while 36 per cent said they did not.
However, students and the unemployed were more likely to agree with the notion of living on stolen land than those who worked either full or part-time jobs.
Additionally, non-immigrants were more likely to reject the idea than immigrants.
The online poll was conducted between May 16 and 18.