More Favour Abolishing the Monarchy than Not

Majority don’t want Prince Charles as Head of State

In a random sampling of public opinion taken by the Forum Poll™ among 1429 Canadian voters, slightly more favour abolishing the monarchy in Canada upon the death of the current Queen (43%) than oppose this idea (40%). Support for ending our ties to the Crown is common to younger (46%) and older (46%) mid age groups, mid income groups ($40K to $60K - 48%), in Quebec (73%), among New Democrats (55%), Francophones (75%), the best educated (post grad - 47%), among those who have ever used marijuana (51%) and still do (55%) and among gun owners (49%).

Since we last polled this question, there has been a slight change from supporting the monarchy to calling for its abolition. In March, 2015, more than 4-in -10 supported the monarchy (45%) while fewer wanted to see it end (39%). This year, those proportions are reversed.

Majority don’t want Charles to succeed to Canadian throne





The majority of Canadian voters disagree Prince Charles should become Canada’s Head of State upon the death of the current Queen (54%), and just 3-in-10 think he should (29%). Fewer than a fifth don’t have an opinion (17%) . Opposition to the current Prince of Wales becoming Head of State is common to Boomers (55 to 64 - 60%), the wealthy ($80K to $100K - 58%), in Quebec (70%), among New Democrats (59%), Francophones (71%), among marijuana users (59%) and among gun owners (60%).

The percentage who do not wish to see Charles become Head of State has stayed stable since last year (March, 2015 - 54%).

“We have been polling this increasingly urgent constitutional issue since the beginning of 2012, and sentiment doesn’t change much; there is an even split in opinion, more or less, on whether to retain the Canadian monarchy or not. There is a substantial majority opinion, though, also relatively unchanged, that Charles should not succeed the Queen as Head of State in this country. It is unlikely the Prince of Wales will abdicate before he succeeds, which means Canadians may be stuck with a monarch the majority don’t want" said Forum Research President, Dr. Lorne Bozinoff.

Lorne Bozinoff, Ph.D. is the president and founder of Forum Research. He can be reached at lbozinoff@forumresearch.com or at (416) 960-9603.