More than half of Canadians expect they will get infected with Omicron

A new survey shows that more than half of Canadians believe they will be infected with the new Omicron variant at some point.

While that may be alarming enough, parents have an even darker outlook. According to an Angus Reid Institute survey, three in five parents believe they will contract Omicron.

The survey found that of the 3,375 respondents, men were most likely to think that they would become infected with the Omicron variant. The age group that was most likely to think they’d get infected is those aged 34 to 55, who are also most likely to have school-aged children at home.

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Newfoundlanders feel the most likely to come down with Omicron, with 60% of respondents agreeing that it was inevitable. Saskatchewan had the most positive outlook, with 47% of respondents feeling an Omicron infection was unavoidable.

Angus Reid Institute

Despite the number of people who believe they will come down with COVID-19, people are still divided over pandemic restrictions. Even among those who believe infection is inevitable, 48% want restrictions to remain, and 48% want all restrictions lifted, according to the survey.

Opinions on restrictions varied by political lean and vaccination status. A whopping 89% of unvaccinated Canadians want restrictions lifted immediately. Nearly half (46%) of those with two doses want the restrictions to end, and just 25% of individuals with three doses want them to end.

Angus Reid Institute

When looking at political leaning, 62% of Conservative voters want restrictions ended, while 20% of Liberal voters want them to end. Similarly, 21% of NDP voters would like to see restrictions lifted, and 30% of Bloc Quebecois voters would see an end to restrictions.

Angus Reid Institute

While the divisions may be obvious when presented by vaccination status or politics, the big picture is that most Canadians favour continuing restrictions. Alberta leads the pack in wanting them lifted, with half of the respondents from the province agreeing or strongly agreeing. Nova Scotia has the least number of respondents wanting to lift restrictions.

Overall, 39% of Canadians would like to see an end to COVID-19 restrictions, and 56% think they should remain in place.

Angus Reid Institute