But Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Quebec have greater concern about timing
More than half (56 per cent) of Canadians feel that their province’s timing for reopening is “just right,” but many are saying it’s still not time to reopen, according to a survey from Hill+Knowlton Strategies.
"Three in 10 Canadians believe that their province is re-opening either a little too quickly or much too quickly," says Elliott Gauthier, H+K's senior vice president of data and analytics. "Those numbers were higher in the provinces of Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and Quebec, which are generally seen as having announced more aggressive reopening plans."
Among Albertans, 46 per cent say their province is opening too quickly while 39 per cent say the pace and timing is OK and only 14 per cent say it is too slow. Forty-six per cent of residents of Saskatchewan and Manitoba also say their provinces are reopening too quickly while 49 per cent say the timing is just right and six per cent say it is too slow.
More than four in 10 (44 per cent) in Quebec say their province is opening too quickly while 45 per cent say the pace and timing is OK and 11 per cent said it is too slow, found the survey of 994 Canadians between May 1 and May 4, 2020.
Meanwhile, a majority of residents in British Columbia (72 per cent), Atlantic Canada (70 per cent) and Ontario (59 per cent) say they believe the pace and timing of reopening in their provinces are acceptable.
"The demographic trend shows that the younger a person is, the more likely they are to think their province is opening back up too quickly," says Gauthier. "This is particularly noteworthy given the widespread reports at the beginning of the pandemic in Canada of younger people being less compliant with physical distancing measures.”
Only one in four seniors in Canada feel their province is reopening too quickly despite being at a much higher risk statistically, found the survey.
Only a small number (eight per cent) of employers are fully prepared to welcome back remote workers to the workplace as the COVID-19 pandemic subsides, according to a Canadian HR Reporter article published on Wednesday.
Nearly a third of businesses across Canada are now fully open, up from 21 per cent from a month ago, according to a survey by the Canadian Federation of Independent Businesses (CFIB) released on Thursday last week.
