Most Canadians believe violence increased during COVID-19: poll
Global News
Six in 10 Canadians believe violence has gone up in their community during the COVID-19 pandemic, and 80% fear things will only get worse going forward, according to a new poll.
Most Canadians feel violence has risen in their community during the COVID-19 pandemic with many fearing things will only get worse going forward, according to a new poll.
As the third anniversary of COVID-19 arrives, polling by Ipsos conducted exclusively for Global News and released Thursday suggests 58 per cent of Canadians believe there has been more violence in their community since the pandemic began in March 2020.
Among those who feel violence has increased, two-thirds or 65 per cent believe it’s because the pandemic has negatively impacted mental health.
Half of the respondents also blamed the breakdown of common values and social cohesion and a similar proportion said economic uncertainty has led to the increased violence.
Darrell Bricker, CEO of Ipsos public affairs, said the public perception on violence mirrors what Canadians are seeing in the news every day.
“When Canadians talk about violence … what they see in the news, what they read online – the more lurid a situation tends to get most of the attention – which would lead people to think to a certain extent that these things are actually increasing,” he said in an interview.
“It’s really what they’re experiencing, not necessarily in their personal lives, but what they’re experiencing through the media for the most part.”
The first year of the pandemic saw the highest number of police-reported hate crimes since Statistics Canada began tracking data in 2009.