Canadians Truly Proud of Flag, Hockey, Armed Forces and Health Care System

Two-thirds of respondents in Quebec would introduce themselves to a new person as “Quebecers” and not as “Canadians.”

Version française (PDF)

In the annual Canada Day poll conducted by Angus Reid Public Opinion, the country’s flag is once again the biggest source of pride, but hockey and the health care system have gained significantly since 2009.

The online survey of a representative national sample of 1,009 Canadians shows growth for nine of the 12 assessed sources of pride, and also reveals that Quebecers and Atlantic Canadians are more likely to say that their province has a distinct culture from the rest of Canada.

At least four-in-five respondents across the country say the Canadian flag (88%) and hockey (80%) make them “very proud” or “moderately proud”, followed by the Canadian Armed Forces (79%).

A majority of Canadians are also proud of the health care system (69%), the state of democracy in Canada (68%), multiculturalism (66%), the Canadian economy (65%), bilingualism (55%) and Aboriginal culture (55%).

Less than half of Canadians are proud of the Canadian justice system (44%), Parliament (41%) and the monarchy (40%).

Pride in multiculturalism is lowest in Alberta (59%) and Quebec (56%), while the justice system gets its lowest ratings in British Columbia and Manitoba and Saskatchewan (32%).

Culture and Identity

About half of Canadians (48%) believe that their province has a culture that is different from the rest of Canada, including 79 per cent of Quebecers and 58 per cent of Atlantic Canadians.

Respondents were also asked how they would introduce themselves to someone they had never met before. Almost three-in-four (72%) would describe themselves as “Canadian”.

In Quebec, two-thirds of respondents (68%) would say they are “Quebecers” when meeting someone new, while 32 per cent would describe themselves as “Canadians.”

Full Report, Detailed Tables and Methodology (PDF)

Methodology: From June 22 to June 23, 2010, Angus Reid Public Opinion conducted an online survey among 1,009 randomly selected Canadian adults who are Angus Reid Forum panelists. The margin of error—which measures sampling variability—is +/- 3.1%, 19 times out of 20. The results have been statistically weighted according to the most current education, age, gender and region Census data to ensure a sample representative of the entire adult population of Canada. Discrepancies in or between totals are due to rounding.


Tags assigned to this article:
National Symbols

Want advance notice for our latest polls? Sign up here!