Metro Vancouver Residents' Views on Democracy, Report of Public Opinion Survey

Following a series of consultations and research through to the end of January 2018, the Centre decided to undertake a two-year Democracy Demonstration Project to develop and pilot a variety of democratic and civic engagement tools/activities designed to build a stronger commitment to Canadian democracy. 

The overall goal of the Project is to pilot and test intervention strategies that could have a measureable impact on the commitment Canadians have to democracy as shown through their participation in democratic processes and activities, the value they attribute to democratic institutions, and their support for the underlying principles of democracy.

A key first step in the Project was to establish baseline measures of perspectives on democracy, and citizen’s participation in democratic activities. To this end, the Centre conducted an online survey from August 7-13, 2018 among a representative random sample of 1,506 Metro Vancouver residents, as the initial target population for the initiative. For comparison purposes only, a probability sample of 1,506 would carry a margin of error of +/- 2.5 percentage points, 19 times out of 20. Following is an Executive Summary of the survey findings.