One Third of Canadians Express ‘Very Proud’ Sentiment Towards Country, a Significant Decrease from 78% in 1980s

According to a recent survey, the sense of national pride among Canadians is declining.

In 1985, 78 percent of those surveyed by Angus Reid expressed being “very proud” to be Canadian. This percentage decreased to 52 percent in 2016 and has now further dropped to 34 percent.

The report on the survey’s findings stated, “The proportion of people who are either proud or very proud of their nationality has dropped significantly from 79 percent to 58 percent over the past eight years.”

Although the majority of Canadians still have a “deep attachment” to Canada and its values, this majority has also significantly shrunk, as indicated by the survey.

While there was little change in this sentiment between 1991 and 2016, there has been a sharp decline in feelings of attachment to Canada over the past eight years.

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In 1991, 65 percent of Canadians stated having a “deep attachment” to Canada, which only slightly decreased to 62 percent in 2016. This number has now dropped to 49 percent in the current year, a 13 point decrease.

An additional 37 percent of those surveyed this year mentioned being attached to Canada “but only as long as it provides a good standard of living.”

Eight percent of respondents expressed a lack of attachment to Canada, saying they would like to see the country split into two or more smaller nations, while 6 percent believed Canada should join the United States.

The survey highlighted that Canadians who have resided in the country for less than a decade primarily feel attached to Canada because of the good quality of living provided. This sentiment is shared by 51 percent of this group, as opposed to 37 percent of the general population and 33 percent of immigrants who have lived in Canada for over two decades.

Provincial Attitudes

The survey found that diminishing levels of “deep attachment” and pride in Canada were observed across all regions.

Although at least two-thirds of residents in every province, except Quebec, claimed to have a “deep” connection to Canada in 2016, there has been a double-digit decrease in this sentiment in all provinces this year, with the exception of Quebec.

Quebec’s attitude can be largely attributed to its initial low starting point, which was the lowest in the nation at 37 percent. It has since fallen by seven points to 30 percent.

Alberta saw a substantial decline of 20 percentage points, dropping from 67 percent in 2016 to 47 percent presently. Manitoba also experienced a significant drop, decreasing by 18 points from 75 percent in 2016 to 57 percent currently.

Attachment levels in Saskatchewan and B.C. each dropped by 17 points to 50 and 53 percent, respectively, while in Atlantic Canada, it dropped by 16 points to 59 percent. Ontario, which had a 71 percent attachment rate in 2016, has now decreased by 14 points to 57 percent.

Age also played a role in attachment to Canada, with Canadians aged 55 and older more likely to express a deep emotional connection to the country, according to the poll.

Women aged 55 and older were the most patriotic, with 66 percent expressing an emotional attachment to Canada, followed by men in the same age range at 63 percent. Females in the 35 to 54 age group also showed more sentimentality towards Canada compared to their male counterparts, at 46 percent and 43 percent, respectively.

However, only 26 percent of females in the 18 to 34 age group expressed a deep attachment to Canada, in contrast to 39 percent of males in the same age bracket.

The survey suggested that income levels also influenced how Canadians felt about their country. Those with lower household incomes tended to have less pride in their country, while individuals with higher incomes were more likely to express pride in their nation.