Tuesday, July 20, 2004

SPOTLIGHT: Sense of belonging

A little wary of others

Canadians are a little wary of their fellow citizens, this study has shown.

Overall, only 53% said that generally-speaking, people can be trusted. About 43% said that one cannot be too careful in dealing with people.

Individuals with higher levels of educational attainment and those living in households with higher incomes were more likely than others to say that people can be trusted.

For example, two-thirds of people with a university degree and with household income of $80,000 or more felt people could be trusted.

This was a much higher proportion than among people who had less than a high school education and incomes of less than $20,000.

Provincially, only about one-third of Quebec residents felt people can be trusted. This compares to more than 60% of individuals in Newfoundland and Labrador, Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia and in all provinces west of Ontario.

Individuals in Quebec were less likely to express trust in other individuals, but more likely to express confidence in institutions.

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© 2004, Statistics Canada.