Support among Canadians for mask mandates, vaccine passport plunges: poll

Canada is not completely out of the woods when it comes to COVID-19, with new variants causing a surge in cases.

A new poll shows, however, that Canadians have had enough of government-enforced precautions, namely mask mandates and vaccine passports.

The poll, conducted by Angus Reid and published on Wednesday, found that only 25 percent of Canadians support vaccine passports in their province, down from 70 percent in September 2021.

Support for provincial mask mandates also fell to 51 percent, down 35 percent since November 2021.

Acceptance of such mandates was regional, with over half of respondents from BC and Ontario saying they'd be ok with it. That number dropped to less than 40 percent in Alberta and Saskatchewan.

Age and gender also showed up as predictors for one's acceptance of mask mandates., with just one in three men under fifty-five saying they'd support the continued implication of the policy.

According to the poll, those who voted Conservative in last year's federal election were least likely to believe that masking, vaccination, and social distancing were effective at reducing the spread of COVID-19. Liberals, NDP, and Bloc Quebecois voters, on the other hand, largely had faith in the aforementioned methods to slow the spread.

In most of Canada, mask mandates and vaccine passports have been done away with, however health officials have not entirely dismissed the possibility that they may have to be brought back.

Despite the apparent lack of support for government-enforced health measures, a second poll conducted by Angus Reid found that Canadians by and large still have at least some concern about COVID-19.

Of those surveyed, older men and women were more likely to say they still thought about the virus, while younger men mostly said they did not.

Nearly half of Canadians said they have "proceeded with caution in recent months" as a result of COVID-19.