British Columbians more satisfied with end of COVID restriction than most Canadians: poll

Canadians are split on how much longer COVID restrictions should stay in place, but B.C. has the largest proportion of residents who say the government is removing them at the right time. According to a study conducted by the Angus Reid Institute and the CBC, 49% of British Columbians...

British Columbians more satisfied with end of COVID restriction than most Canadians: poll

Canadians are split on how much longer COVID restrictions should stay in place, but B.C. has the largest proportion of residents who say the government is removing them at the right time.

According to a study conducted by the Angus Reid Institute and the CBC, 49% of British Columbians are happy with their province’s timeline for ending mandates and restrictions. Next to B.C., Quebec and the Atlantic provinces have the highest proportion of residents happy with their province’s timeline at 42%.

Mask mandates ended in B.C. on March 11 and vaccine passports will no longer be required as of April 8.

Overall, Canadians are broadly split on the issue of ending mandates – 36% are saying it’s happening too quickly, 38% feel like it’s going at the right pace and 22% think it’s taking too long.

Only 29% of people in B.C. think pandemic restrictions are being removed too fast, which is the lowest rate of any province aside from Quebec, where 28% of residents say restrictions are going away too quickly.

Mandates remain popular – 73% of Canadians still support masking requirements in public, and 64% support vaccine passports at restaurants and theatres.

Half of Canadians said they will avoid large crowds at least for the time being, 53% will continue wearing a mask in public, 64% will continue sanitizing their hands in addition to washing and three-in-five will maintain social distancing habits.

A majority of Canadians, 56%, reported having had a conflict with a close friend or family over vaccines. And Canadians are equally split – 48% on both sides – over whether Prime Minster Justin Trudeau has done a good job handling the pandemic.

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