Shifting perceptions of Canada’s public institutions
In February, the Rideau Hall Foundation (RHF) set out to conduct research to understand how Canadians felt about their public institutions (including government, healthcare, education, justice, news and media), how our institutions are interconnected, and whether there is an opportunity to increase engagement between Canadians and these institutions to maintain a healthy democracy.
And then the COVID-19 pandemic hit, fundamentally changing the very ways we interact with people (let alone with institutions) our ability to travel, and causing a ripple effect through the Canadian economy from coast to coast to coast. With this in mind, the RHF saw an opportunity to conduct a second survey in May to see how Canada’s pandemic response changed public impressions of Canadian institutions.
The results leave us optimistic about the future. Despite the upheaval caused by COVID-19, Canadians have become increasingly optimistic about our country and its foundation of public institutions.
Read more about the process here.