Young Canadians are losing patience with lockdown measures to curb the recent Omicron surge, a new poll suggests.
An Ipsos poll conducted on behalf of Global News showed that support for lockdowns has declined across the country, specifically among those aged 18 to 34.
“The belief of whether or not COVID represents a significant risk to your health is driven by age … and that understanding of relative risk is driving all of the other attitudes,” said Sean Simpson, Ipsos’s senior vice-president of public affairs.
According to the poll, there are significant differences in opinion based on age. Those aged 18 to 34 are more likely to disagree with new measures with 43 per cent believing it is “too much” rather than “too little” (31 per cent) or “about right” (35 per cent).
The numbers are considerably different for those aged 55 plus. Results show that 41 per cent believe public health measures put in place in their respective provinces are “too little” rather than “about right” (39 per cent) or “too much” (21 per cent).
Another factor to consider in terms of opposition to lockdown measures from those aged 18 to 34 is mental health. Unsurprisingly, many Canadians have felt ill effects on their mental well-being during the pandemic.
“Younger people are more social … they are more likely to say that their mental health has been impacted by COVID,” Simpson said.
According to an earlier Ipsos study on mental health during the pandemic (conducted in October 2021), 73 per cent of gen Z and 61 per cent of millennials can be classified as “high risk” compared to 49 per cent of generation X and 26 per cent of boomers.
Support for lockdowns has declined four percentage points since December, to 52 per cent nationwide, according to Ipsos.
The Ipsos poll was conducted between Jan. 14 and 17, 2022, on behalf of Global News using a sample of 1,001 Canadians aged 18+ via Ipsos’s online portal. Quotas and weighting were employed to make sure that the sample accurately represents the Canadian population according to census data. The poll is accurate to within ± 3.5 percentage points, 19 times out of 20, had all Canadians aged 18+ been polled.