With knowledge of terrorist attack low, most support more being done to inform Canadians
June 23, 2025 – Today marks 40 years to the day that Canada endured the worst terror attack in its history, but if you ask most Canadians, there’s a good chance they’d be unable to tell you that. On June 23, 1985, 280 Canadian citizens and 49 other people died when an explosion caused by a bomb brought down Air India Flight 182 on its way from Canada to London, England.
New data from the non-profit Angus Reid Institute finds few Canadians, approximately one-in-five (17%), able to identify the Air India bombing as the deadliest terror attack Canada has endured. Further, just one-in-10 (9%) say they know a lot about the incident, while one-third (32%) had never heard of it.
For half of the population, the feeling is that Canada has never truly treated this incident as a national tragedy. One-in-three (32%) are unsure, while 17 per cent disagree. Among those who know a lot about the history of the incident, twice as many (60%) say it has not been treated as such, as say it has (32%).
While they may not know a lot about the tragedy, Canadians appear to see this as a problem to correct. Two-thirds (66%) say they support Canada implementing information about the tragedy into school curricula, while seven-in-10 (71%) would create an exhibit in the Canadian Museum of History. Both would go a long way to increase the number of Canadians in future years of who feel Canada has done enough to honour the victims. In both 2023 polling and these latest data fewer than three-in-10 said enough had been done.
More Key Findings:
- Support for teaching more about the tragedy in schools exceeds three-in-five in every region, across the political spectrum, and among all age and gender combinations. The same is true for the idea of creating an exhibit in the Canadian Museum of History.
- Three-in-10 (29%) Canadians correctly answer that no one involved in the terrorist attack were convicted of murder. Alongside the 32 per cent who say they have never heard of the attack, another three-in-10 (29%) are unsure if anyone was or wasn’t held responsible.
- Three-in-five (63%) say that even if they have the right to be there, the presence of Khalistan supporters at public memorials is inappropriate.
About ARI
The Angus Reid Institute (ARI) was founded in October 2014 by pollster and sociologist, Dr. Angus Reid. ARI is a national, not-for-profit, non-partisan public opinion research foundation established to advance education by commissioning, conducting and disseminating to the public accessible and impartial statistical data, research and policy analysis on economics, political science, philanthropy, public administration, domestic and international affairs and other socio-economic issues of importance to Canada and its world.
INDEX
Part One: Knowledge of event remains low
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Half say bombing has ‘never been treated like a Canadian tragedy’
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Support high for measures to raise awareness about bombing
Part Two: Disinformation about the bombing
Part Three: Memorial events
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One-in-eight express interest in attending ceremony in their own city
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Most believe it is ‘inappropriate’ for Khalistan supporters to attend memorial events
Part One: Knowledge of event remains low
On its 40th anniversary, the bombing of Air India Flight 182 in 1985 by extremists advocating for a separate Sikh state in Punjab, India remains a unremembered tragedy. All 329 people aboard the flight that departed from Montreal died when a bomb exploded aboard the plane off the coast of Ireland. The vast majority, 280, were Canadian citizens, and one-quarter of all the victims were children.
There have been trials and investigations, a public inquiry into the Canadian government’s handling of the aftermath, the establishment of the National Day of Remembrance for Victims of Terrorism in 2005, and an official Canadian government apology in 2010. But that has not amounted to broad knowledge of what is the deadliest act of terrorism in Canadian history.
When asked to point to what event represents the worst mass murder of their fellow citizens, most Canadians are unable to correctly identify the Air India bombing. The massacre of 14 women at L’École Polytechnique in December 1989 has been the choice Canadians are most likely to select over the past two years, followed by the 2020 shooting of 22 people in Portapique, Nova Scotia. The Air India bombing is chosen at a lower rate than either of those tragedies. One-in-five (20%) say they don’t know what the answer is:
In fact, one-third (32%) of Canadians tell the Angus Reid Institute that they have never heard of the Air India bombing, while most, 59 per cent, say they only know the main details. Compared to two years ago, the percentage of Canadians who say they nothing of the incident has grown from 28 per cent.
Three-in-10 (29%) Canadians correctly answer that no one involved in the terrorist attack were convicted of murder. Most Canadians are unfamiliar with this key detail of the Air India bombing.
Only one man was convicted of anything, Inderjit Singh Reyat, who pleaded guilty to manslaughter related to a second bomb which was intended to explode on another Air India flight on the same day but detonated at Narita International Airport in Japan, killing two Japanese baggage handlers.
With all that in mind, only a minority (29%) of those aware of the Air India bombing believe Canada has done enough to mark the event and remember the victims. Larger groups believe not enough has been done (33%) or are unsure (36%):
Half say bombing has ‘never been treated like a Canadian tragedy’
There is larger agreement that the tragedy has never been treated as national one by Canada. Half (51%) believe the bombing “has never been treated like a Canadian tragedy”, a proportion that grows among those know a lot (60%) about the incident:
Support high for measures to raise awareness about bombing
There is appetite among most Canadians for more to be done to educate the country about the incident. Seven-in-ten (71%) support an exhibit about the bombing at the Canadian Museum of History, while two-thirds (65%) believe it should be consistently taught in Canadian schools. There is less support for a display of wreckage from the bombed plane in Canada (41%):
Part Two: Disinformation about the bombing
The information vacuum on the 1985 terrorist attack has led to the proliferation of conspiracy theories. Approaching half (47%) of those who say they know a lot about the Air India bombing, and two-in-five (38%) who know a little, believe “there is too much disinformation” surrounding the incident:
One conspiracy theory blames the Indian government for bombing the plane. The theory was lent credibility by Liberal MP Sukh Dhaliwal, who sponsored a petition for another inquiry into the bombing to investigate whether “foreign intelligence” groups were involved. The petition has been criticized for “promoting conspiracy theories promoted by Khalistan extremists”.
One-in-ten (10%), including one-in-eight who say they know “a lot” about the Air India bombing, believe the Indian government was responsible for the terrorist attack:
Part Three: Memorial events
One-in-eight express interest in attending ceremony in their own city
The 40th anniversary of the Air India bombing will be marked at ceremonies across the country, including at the Air India Memorial in Stanley Park in Vancouver. At least one-in-eight Canadians say they are considering attending a memorial in their own city:
Most believe it is ‘inappropriate’ for Khalistan supporters to attend memorial events
However recent memorial events have been a source of controversy due to the attendance of Sikhs for Justice, a group who support the establishment of a Sikh homeland in India called Khalistan and believe one of the men who is believed to be the key architect of the attack, and also linked to the Khalistan movement, to be “innocent”. One woman, who lost family friends in the Air India bombing, said the rallies by Sikhs for Justice alongside the memorial ceremonies were “repugnant”.
Two-thirds (63%) of Canadians, including seven-in-10(69%) of those who know a lot about the Air India bombing, believe it is “inappropriate” for Khalistan supporters to attend public memorial ceremonies:
Survey Methodology:
The Angus Reid Institute conducted an online survey from June 13-17, 2025, among a randomized sample of 1,607 Canadian adults who are members of Angus Reid Forum. The sample was weighted to be representative of adults nationwide according to region, gender, age, household income, and education, based on the Canadian census. For comparison purposes only, a probability sample of this size would carry a margin of error of +/- 2 percentage points, 19 times out of 20. Discrepancies in or between totals are due to rounding. The survey was self-commissioned and paid for by ARI.
For detailed results by age, gender, region, education, and other demographics, click here.
For detailed results by awareness of Air India bombing, click here.
For PDF of full release, click here.
For the questionnaire, click here.
MEDIA CONTACT:
Shachi Kurl, President: 604.908.1693 shachi.kurl@angusreid.org @shachikurl
Dave Korzinski, Research Director: 250.899.0821 dave.korzinski@angusreid.org
Jon Roe, Research Associate: 825.437.1147 jon.roe@angusreid.org
