Photo by Dennis Rochel on Unsplash: https://unsplash.com/photos/YxS34Z9RM2U
Majority of Ontarians support return to
masks
Seven out of ten willing to comply with
an Ontario mask mandate
Toronto,
Nov 11th, 2022 – In a random sampling of public opinion taken by The
Forum Poll™ among 1007 Ontario residents,
53% agree that Ontario should bring back its mask mandate and 72% agree that
they would follow a renewed provincial mask mandate.
While 19% say they will
never wear masks again and 4% are unsure, 77% already wear masks or would be
willing to wear them again. A worse Covid situation would motivate 25% to wear
masks again, while 24% said they would do so in response to a mask mandate. Willingness
to follow a mask mandate is highest in the city of Toronto (79%) and lowest in
Northern Ontario (60%).
“We are seeing significant
public support for a mask mandate,” said Dr.
Lorne Bozinoff, President of Forum Research. “It’s likely that Ontarians are
concerned about increasing Covid risks in coming months.”
Support for a mask mandate differs strongly by
political preference. Among those who would vote Progressive Conservative if a
provincial election were held today, 56% would follow a renewed mask mandate in
Ontario, compared to 87% of those who would vote Liberal or NDP, 72% of those
who would vote Green, 32% of those who would vote for other parties and 75% of
undecideds.
At the federal level, 47% of those who would
vote Conservative agreed that they would follow a mask mandate in Ontario,
compared to 87-88% of those who would vote Liberal or NDP, 68% of those who
would vote Green, 49% of those who would vote for other parties, and 85% of
undecideds.
The poll was conducted by Forum Research with
the results based on an interactive voice response telephone survey of 1007
randomly selected Ontario residents over the age of 18. The poll was conducted
on November 8th, 2022. Results based on the total sample are
considered accurate +/- 3%, 19 times out of 20. Subsample and regional results
will be less accurate. Margins of error for subsample and regional results are
available at www.forumresearch.com/samplestim.asp
This research is not necessarily predictive of
future outcomes, but rather captures opinion at one point in time. The poll was
conducted for the Toronto Star by Forum Research Inc. With offices across
Canada and around the world, 100% Canadian owned Forum Research
is one of the country’s leading survey research firms.
Forum Research follows the CRIC Public Opinion
Research Standards and Disclosure Requirements that can be found here: https://canadianresearchinsightscouncil.ca/standards/
