Statistics Canada Report on Attitudes Shows Police is Most Trusted Public Institution

Statistics Canada today released results from its 2013 General Social Survey that measured the degree of confidence Canadians have in various public institutions.

The survey shows that  76% of Canadians have some or a great deal of confidence in the police, making it the institution with the highest level of public confidence.

At the same time, around 6 in 10 Canadians were confident in the school system (61%), banks (59%) and the justice system and courts (57%).

In contrast, a minority of Canadians expressed confidence in the media (40%), Federal Parliament (38%) and major corporations (30%).

More specifically, the majority of Canadians believe police were doing a good job across the six categories examined in the study.

These categories were:

• being approachable and easy to talk to (73%)
• ensuring the safety of citizens (70%)
• promptly responding to calls (68%)
• treating people fairly (68%)
• enforcing the laws (65%)
• providing information on crime prevention (62%).

Canadians' perceptions of police have become more favourable over time, as more Canadians believe police are doing a good job in five of the six categories compared with 2004.