Natural Resources Canada (NRCan) is prioritizing legislation and action to create sustainable jobs and ensure support for communities to create more economic opportunities for workers and families now and in the future across Canada. The involves working with partners to develop and implement various strategies to decarbonize regional electricity systems, increase the market for clean fuels and to transform Canada’s existing building stock. Part of this included the development of a Critical Minerals Strategy, led by NRCan, which looks to ensure Canada’s natural resources are developed in a sustainable, competitive and inclusive manner.
NRCan previously conducted opinion research on natural resource issues and the low-carbon economy in the Winter of 2021, which built upon previous waves in 2019 and 2018. The department is seeking a clear and current understanding of Canadian public opinion on a wide range of natural resource issues, including forestry, mining, energy, clean technology, climate change, government science and nuclear energy.
To that end, NRCan conducted another wave of this research to see how Canadians view traditional natural resource sectors, as well as what they understand about the challenges and opportunities for these sectors when moving towards a low-carbon economy.
Qualitative phase
Nanos conducted 20 online focus groups between March 1st and 28th, 2023 among 112 Canadians, 18 years of age and older, among residents of eleven communities across Canada as identified by NRCan.
The eleven communities were the following:
- Vancouver, BC (2 groups)
- Calgary, AB (2 groups)
- Toronto, ON (2 groups)
- Regina, AB (2 groups)
- Montréal, QC (2 groups)
- Fredericton, NB (2 groups)
- Rural British Columbia (2 groups)
- The Territories (1 group)
- Rural Québec (2 groups)
- Rural Nova Scotia (2 group)
- Atlantic Canada (1 group)
Sixteen (16) of the online groups were conducted in English and the four (4) online groups with residents of Quebec were conducted in French. For groups with residents of Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto, Regina, Montreal, Fredericton, Rural British Columbia, Rural Quebec, and Rural Nova Scotia, the groups were split by income, with one group including higher income individuals and one group with lower to middle income individuals. For groups with residents of the Territories and Atlantic Canada, one online group, each, was conducted and included a mix of low, medium, and higher income individuals.
Lower to middle income was defined as households with no more than one person over the age of 18, with a household income of less than $75,000 or households with more than one person over the age of 18, with a household income of less than $100,000, all others fell into the higher income group. Across all groups, 163 participants were recruited and 112 participated. Participants received a $100 honorarium. Focus group sessions were about 90 minutes in duration.
Quantitative phase
The survey is comprised of 3593 Canadians, 18 years of age and older. The survey was conducted across Canada in each province and territory between March 31st and June 9th, 2023.
The sample was drawn from two sources:
- The Nanos Probability Panel, which contains about 50,000 Canadians who were randomly recruited to join the panel by land- and cell-lines with live agents.
- Random recruitment by land-and cell-lines and administered the survey online.
The resulting sample contains Canadians who were all randomly recruited by telephone, thus allowing a margin of error to be associated with the research. 3,518 individuals were recruited from the Nanos Probability Panel, with 75 individuals in the Territories recruited by land- and cell-lines.
The randomly recruited probability sample has a margin of error of +/-1.6% at a 95% confidence interval. Results are weighted to population proportions for region, age, and gender from the 2021 Census. All respondents self-administered the survey online.
The research was commissioned by NRCan and was conducted by Nanos Research.
This publication reports the findings of this research.
To view the full report in English, click here
To view the full report in French, click here