Pride in Canadian Symbols
and Institutions
Jack Jedwab
Association for Canadian Studies
November 26, 2012
Introduction
Canadians generally hold their country in high esteem
and tend to believe that we are viewed positively outside
of Canada. That which follows examines those
institutions, structures, events, policies, projects and
symbols which tend to define us. The following question
was asked: How important are each of the following as a
source of personal or collective pride in Canada? Are
they very important, somewhat important, not very
important or not important at all? Some things clearly
define us more than others. We shall observe that there
are certain things in which most Canadians take pride
and others around which there is divergence notably
between Quebecers and other Canadians
Methodology
The findings were collected from a survey
of 2200 Canadians conducted by the firm
Leger Marketing during the week of
November 5th, 2012 and commissioned by
the Association for Canadian Studies.
Done by web panel, the margin of error
for an equivalent telephone survey is 2.9
percent 19 times out of 20
Universal Health Care tops list when it comes to overall
importance of sources of Canadian pride
Nov 2012 ACS-Leger
Marketing
How important are each of the following as a source of personal or collective
pride in Canada? Are they very important, somewhat important, not very
important or not important at all?
Very
Important
Somewhat
Important
Total
Quebec-Total
ROC-Total
Diff ROC/
Quebec
Universal health
care
74
20
94
92
95
3
Our country's
reputation in
the World
64
29
93
93
94
1
The Canadian
Charter of
Rights and
Freedoms
60
30
90
89
90
1
Canada's
economic
performance
57
35
92
90
93
3
Our Canadian
passport
53
31
84
84
84
0
Our History
52
40
92
89
92
3
Monarchy at the bottom of the list when it comes to overall
Canadian sources of pride
Nov 2012 ACS-Leger
Marketing
How important are each of the following as a source of personal or collective
pride in Canada? Are they very important, somewhat important, not very
important or not important at all?
Very Important
Somewhat
Importa
nt
Total
Quebec=Total
ROC-Total
Diff ROC/Quebec
The national anthem
44
34
78
58
85
27
The Armed Forces
38
38
76
61
81
20
Our federal system
of governance
37
42
79
63
84
21
The 1867
Confederation
Agreements
33
42
75
62
79
17
Multiculturalism
30
38
68
62
70
8
The Policy of official
languages and
Bilingualism
26
35
61
82
55
-27
The War of 1812
23
38
61
33
70
37
The 1982 Patriation
of the
Constitution
23
38
61
50
65
15
The monarchy
10
29
39
16
45
30
Our global reputation, health care, economic performance, rights
charter and passport amongst shared sources of pride between
Quebecers and other Canadians
Nov 2012 ACS-Leger
Marketing
How important are each of the following as a source of personal or collective pride in Canada? Are
they very important, somewhat important, not very important or not important at all?
Maritimes
QC
ON
MB/SK
AB
BC
Our country's
reputation in
the World
95%
93%
91%
95%
97%
96%
Universal health
care
98%
92%
94%
97%
95%
92%
Canada's economic
performance
95%
90%
93%
91%
94%
91%
The Canadian
Charter of
Rights and
Freedoms
93%
89%
91%
77%
89%
92%
Our History
93%
89%
92%
91%
94%
93%
Our Canadian
passport
84%
84%
82%
87%
87%
87%
The Policy of
official
languages and
Bilingualism
64%
82%
56%
43%
44%
59%
Our federal system
of governance
80%
63%
85%
84%
87%
85%
Official Languages, National Anthem, 1812 and the monarchy are
areas where gaps in pride are largest between Quebec and other
provinces
Nov 2012 ACSLeger
Marketing
How important are each of the following as a source of personal or collective pride in Canada?
Are they very important, somewhat important, not very important or not important at all?
Maritimes
QC
ON
MB/SK
AB
BC
The 1867
Confederation
Agreements
77%
62%
76%
80%
85%
81%
Multiculturalism
76%
62%
70%
62%
68%
68%
The Armed Forces
79%
61%
80%
82%
86%
80%
The national
anthem
82%
58%
84%
91%
86%
83%
The 1982
Patriation of
the
Constitution
63%
50%
64%
61%
67%
70%
The War of 1812
64%
33%
74%
63%
71%
65%
The monarchy
43%
16%
45%
42%
38%
52%
Pride in multiculturalism greater amongst allophones, monarchy amongst anglophones
and official languages amongst francophones
Nov 2012 ACS-Leger Marketing
Nov 2012 Important
How important are each of the following as a source of personal or collective
pride in Canada? Are they very important, somewhat important, not very
important or not important at all?
Anglophone
Francophone
Allophone
Universal health care
95%
94%
92%
Our country's reputation in the World
95%
92%
91%
The Canadian Charter of Rights and
Freedoms
90%
88%
92%
Canada's economic performance
93%
90%
92%
Our Canadian passport
83%
84%
87%
Our History
93%
89%
90%
The national anthem
86%
56%
79%
The Armed Forces
83%
58%
75%
Our federal system of governance
85%
61%
82%
The 1867 Confederation Agreements
79%
60%
78%
Multiculturalism
68%
58%
77%
The Policy of official languages and
Bilingualism
51%
84%
65%
The War of 1812
73%
30%
61%
The 1982 Patriation of the
Constitution
67%
48%
61%
The monarchy
48%
14%
36%
When asked what they consider “very important” health care tops everyone’s list but charter rights do well
amongst allophones and official languages amongst francophones
%
Very Important only
Anglophone
Francophone
Allophone
Universal health care
79%
66%
70%
Our country's reputation in the
World
68%
55%
62%
The Canadian Charter of Rights
and Freedoms
62%
49%
68%
Canada's economic performance
59%
47%
63%
Our History
56%
46%
46%
Our Canadian passport
54%
45%
58%
The national anthem
52%
21%
45%
The Armed Forces
47%
19%
35%
Our federal system of governance
43%
16%
41%
The 1867 Confederation
Agreements
40%
14%
33%
Multiculturalism
30%
15%
44%
The War of 1812
30%
5%
24%
The 1982 Patriation of the
Constitution
26%
15%
24%
The Policy of official languages and
Bilingualism
16%
44%
32%
The monarchy
14%
1%
6%