Poll: Most Canadians believe racism is a ‘serious problem’—up 13 points from last year

Under half of the respondents (47 percent) said they believed racism was a serious problem in Canada last year, though that number has risen 13 points. The poll ran from July 8 to July 10 and found that 60 percent of Canadians polled believe racism is currently a serious problem in Canada.

The poll by Ipsos, shows that most respondents who said they believe racism is a problem in Canada are women and younger people.

The poll also shows that more people between the ages of 18 and 34 (70 percent) believe racism is a problem before people who are 35 to 54 (60 percent) and people aged 55 and up (52 percent).

"People are learning to identify what racism is, they are finding a way to label it. Canadians aren’t becoming more racist, but people are starting to identify things for what they are," said Ipsos Public Affairs CEO Darrell Bricker.

More women (66 percent) believe racism is a serious problem than men (52 percent).

"Women have gone through the #MeToo movement, and this feels like that," noted Bricker. "There is a heightened sensitivity that’s coming out of it, this is another hashtag-type movement."

He added that young people are usually more progressive due to movements like Black Lives Matter.

"There are a lot more young people who are people of colour, so they have experienced it, so it resonates with them. Whereas the boomers, not so much," Bricker added.

Since the death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police, anti-racism protests have been held throughout the country.

"The events in the U.S. have percolated over the border," Bricker noted. "People are paying an immense amount of attention to the news."

"The COVID crisis is really dominating people’s day-to-day decision-making and turning to the news to see what’s going on."

Bricker added that Canadian’s were shocked by the video of Floyd’s death and racism awareness started being promoted more as a result.

Almost two out of every three Canadians responded to the poll saying they are in support of the Black Lives Matter movement.

There were 1,000 Canadians above the age of 18 interviewed online for the Ipsos survey.