Canadians Agree: We are Cool, Polite, Sexy and Definitely Not Modest!

TORONTO – June 30, 2014 – As the nation prepares to celebrate Canada Day, and Canada’s 150th in 2017, a new Ipsos Reid poll commissioned by Historica Canada, reveals Canadian attitudes on Canada, and we are definitely not modest.

The poll aimed to measure knowledge and attitudes related to Canadians and how they perceived themselves. The findings show we embrace the fact that we are sexy (75%), cool (89%), polite (92%) and proud of our heritage (89%) – a 10% increase over our last Canada Day poll, with similar, questions back in 2010.

“Canadians are feeling good about themselves with good reason,” said Anthony Wilson-Smith, president of Historica Canada. “We increasingly measure our identity in terms of who we are rather than how we measure up against others. That's a very positive step forward.”

Notably, the online survey of over 1,000 respondents showed immense support for Canada’s 150th anniversary. Most Canadians (71%) plan to attend a ‘Canada 150’ activity or commemoration three years from now.

“Heading into Canada’s birthday, the results of the survey show that there might not be a better time to be a Canadian,” said John Wright, senior vice president of Ipsos Reid. “Canadians from across the country greatly believe our nation allows us the freedom to express who we want to be, while welcoming others with open arms, which is a heritage we are all proud of. Pride for living in Canada is always growing, perhaps because Canadians believe we are so polite, cool and sexy!”

Other findings include:

• One in ten (11%) incorrectly believe the first lines of Canada’s national anthem “O Canada,” begins with something other than “Oh Canada, our home and native land…”
• Just over half (56%) can correctly say that Canada’s 150th birthday occurs in 2017.
• Four in five (81%) Canadians ‘agree’ (34% strongly/47% somewhat) that “Canadians should express more patriotism,” while one in five (19%) disagree.
• Canadians are free to express who they are in Canada (93% agree).
• Canada’s diversity is a strength (86% agree).
• Canada is welcoming towards minority cultural groups (93% agree).

Historica Canada is the largest charitable organization dedicated to Canadian history, identity and citizenship. Its mandate is to build active and informed citizens through a greater knowledge and appreciation of the history, heritage and stories of Canada. Visit www.HistoricaCanada.ca .

These are some of the findings of an Ipsos Reid poll conducted between June 17th to 19th, 2014 on behalf of Historica Canada. For this survey, a sample of 1,001 Canadians from Ipsos' Canadian online panel was interviewed online. Weighting was then employed to balance demographics to ensure that the sample's composition reflects that of the adult population according to Census data and to provide results intended to approximate the sample universe. The precision of Ipsos online polls is measured using a credibility interval.  In this case, the poll is accurate to within +/- 3.5 percentage points had all Canadians adults been polled. All sample surveys and polls may be subject to other sources of error, including, but not limited to coverage error, and measurement error.