Canadians More Concerned About Flooding Than 4 Years Ago

Canadians More Concerned About Flooding Than 4 Years Ago

 Only a quarter concerned in general

Toronto, August 1^st, 2019 – In a random sampling of public opinion taken by The Forum Poll™ among 1733 Canadian voters, almost three quarters (TOP2: 72%) say they are not concerned about flooding affecting their home or business, with 4 in 10 (43%) saying they are not concerned at all.

3 in 10 (BTM2: 28%) Canadians say they are concerned about flooding affecting their home or business, with 1 in 10 (11%) saying they are very concerned.

Respondents most likely to say they are not concerned include those earning $40k-$60k (75%), $80k-$100k (74%), or the wealthiest ($100k-$250k), the most educated (76%), from Québec (84%), and voting BQ (96%).

Canadians who are more likely to say they are concerned about their homes or businesses being affected by flooding include those aged 18 to 34 (33%), earning less than $20k (37%) or $20k-$40k (40%), with secondary school education or less (36%), from Manitoba/Saskatchewan (38%), and voting Green (32%).

More than half say they’re more concerned than they used to be

The majority (BTM2: 55%) of Canadians are more concerned about flooding than they were four years ago, with 1 in 5 (20%) saying they are much more concerned.

Almost half (TOP2: 45%) say they are less concerned about flooding compared to four years ago, with a quarter (25%) who are much less concerned.

Respondents more likely to say they are more concerned include those aged 18 to 34 (62%), females (60%), earning $80k-$100k (67%), who completed college or university (60%), from Atlantic Canada (62%) or Ontario (62%), and voting Green (71%).

Respondents who are more likely to say they are less concerned include those aged 35 to 44 (46%), 45 to 54 (49%), or 65 and over (48%), males (49%), earning less than $20k (50%) or $40k-$60k (47%), with secondary school education or less (50%) or some college or university (47%), from Alberta (62%), and voting Conservative (61%).

“High profile flooding incidents have been reported across the country this year,” said Dr. Lorne Bozinoff, President of Forum Research. “So perhaps its no surprise that the majority of Canadians are saying they’re more concerned about flooding than they used to be. And amongst those who are concerned about flooding in general? The least wealthy and the least educated, possibly because they are least able to bear flooding’s unforeseen costs.”