Canadians Pessimistic about Trump Presidency

VANCOUVER, BC--(Marketwired - November 16, 2016) - A new poll by NRG Research Group and Peak Communicators reveals that Canadians are generally not optimistic about President-Elect Donald Trump.

Sixty percent of Canadians interviewed say that the United States is heading in the wrong direction by electing Trump, with 45% of respondents nationwide saying that this election moves America strongly in the wrong direction. One-quarter (25%) of Canadians, on the other hand, feel that America is moving in the right direction.

Notably, women (65%) and Canadians under 35 years of age (67%) are particularly likely to feel that Trump's election positions America on the wrong track. Quebecers (69%) are also more likely than those in other regions to feel this way, with more than one-half (54%) of Quebec residents saying that America is strongly heading in the wrong direction.

Broadly speaking, Canadians believe that Trump as President will have a negative impact on many important issues, particularly race relations in America (72% negative impact, 10% positive impact). Canadians are also pessimistic about Trump's impacts on gender equality in America (67% negative), LGBTQ rights in America (65% negative), unrest in the Middle East (62% negative), climate change (60% negative), Canada-US relations (59% negative), the Canadian economy (55% negative), and American trade (54% negative). In fact, the only issue perceived by less than one-half of Canadians as negatively impacted by a Trump presidency is the American economy (46% negative, 30% positive).

"It is noteworthy that, for every issue tested, more Canadians think Trump will have a negative impact than a positive one," says Andrew Enns, President of NRG Research Group.

After the crash of the Citizenship and Immigration Canada website on election night, apparently due to unanticipated volume, most Canadians (69%) believe that applications for Canadian immigration will indeed increase as a consequence of the election results. Forty-three percent of Canadians think we will see more applications from Americans looking to leave the United States; 45% percent anticipate an increase in immigration applications from citizens of other countries who now want to move to Canada instead of the United States. One-quarter (23%) of Canadians anticipate an increase in immigration applications from refugees as a result of Trump's election.

"Interestingly, Canadians tend to believe that Trump's stay in the Oval Office will be short-lived," says Enns. "One-half of Canadians think that Trump will hold the Presidency for one term while another 27% believe that he will leave office early."

These results are from a provincially-representative Canada-wide study of 1,001 online respondents conducted by NRG Research Group on November 10^th, 2016*. The poll was conducted in English and French. Results were weighted to reflect the actual age and gender distribution in each region. Margin of error is not provided for online polls or other non-probability samples.

Notes to editor:

*One thousand and one Canadians were asked the following questions:

1. "Do you feel the United States of America is heading in the right or wrong direction by electing Donald Trump?"
2. 60 percent say wrong direction, and 25 percent say right direction (14 percent don't know or prefer not to answer)
3. 67 percent of those under 35 say wrong direction, compared with 54 percent of those 35-54 and 61 percent of those 55+
4. 65 percent of women and 55 percent of men say wrong direction
5. 69 percent of Quebec residents say wrong direction
6. "How long do you think Donald Trump will stay in office for?"
7. 27 percent say less than one term (i.e., he will leave office early); 51 percent say one term; 9 percent say two terms; and 2 percent say more than two terms (i.e., he will extend or remove current term limits)
8. 32 percent of women (compared with 23 percent of men) say less than one term; 56 percent of men say one term and 12 percent of men say two terms (compared with 47 percent and 6 percent of women, respectively)
9. 30 percent of those under 35 or 55+ say less than one term, compared with 23 percent of those aged 35-54
10. "In your opinion, what impact will the election of Donald Trump as President have on each of the following issues?"
11. American economy: 30 percent positive, 43 percent negative
12. American trade: 26 percent positive, 54 percent negative
13. Canadian economy: 19 percent positive, 55 percent negative
14. Canada-US relations: 16 percent positive, 59 percent negative
15. Unrest in the Middle East: 14 percent positive, 62 percent negative
16. Race relations in America: 10 percent positive, 72 percent negative
17. Gender equality in America: 10 percent positive, 67 percent negative
18. Climate change: 9 percent positive, 60 percent negative
19. LGBTQ rights in America: 8 percent positive, 65 percent negative
20. "The Citizenship and Immigration Canada website crashed on election night, apparently due to unanticipated volume. Do you believe that there will be an actual increase in immigration applications in Canada as a consequence of the election results?"
21. 69 percent say yes, 21 percent say no, and 10 percent don't know or prefer not to answer
22. 43 percent anticipate an increase in applications from American citizens, 45 percent expect an increase from residents of other countries who will choose to immigrate to Canada instead of the United States, and 23 percent expect an increase in refugee applications

NRG Research Group is a leading Canadian public affairs and market research company, with offices in Vancouver, Calgary and Winnipeg.

Peak Communicators is a leading independent full-service public relations agency in Western Canada with a specialty in media relations, communication strategy, media training and digital media.

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