With a Federal election slated for April 28th, and CRTC hearings on Cancon beginning in May, the Canadian Media Producers Association (CMPA) has released the results of a cross-country poll. The association that represents Canadian producers says according to the poll, more than 90% of Canadians agree it’s important to protect Canadian culture and identity.

The CMPA Omnibus survey results on Canadian identity and Canadian cultural industries was conducted by Abacus Data and surveyed 1,800 Canadians over the age of 18 from March 31 to April 3.

“These numbers confirm that Canadians want to see their perspectives represented on screen, and will strongly support a government that champions content that is produced and owned by Canadians,” said Reynolds Mastin, president and CEO, CMPA, in a statement. “Canadians cherish our distinct identity, and firmly believe it should be defended at home and promoted on screens around the world.”

Cultural identity has also become an important policy point for the upcoming Canadian federal election, in reaction to U.S. President Donald Trump’s annexation and tariff threats, in addition to the future of the CBC at stake. Prime Minister and Liberal Party of Canada leader Mark Carney has vowed to enshrine and increase CBC/Radio-Canada funding if elected, while Conservative Party of Canada leader Pierre Poilievre has previously discussed defunding the CBC while maintaining Radio-Canada.

Among the poll’s other results, 87% of the sample group agree that Canadian culture is distinct and worth protecting and maintaining with 13% saying it is a subset of American culture and should be more integrated with the U.S. Respondents over 60 as well as those from Alberta and Atlantic Canada were most likely to support Canadian culture (89%), followed by Ontario, Quebec and Saskatchewan/Manitoba (86%).

More than seven out of 10 respondents say they prefer Canadian-made television over U.S. productions when the option is made available with Quebec respondents agreeing at 85%.
Another 83% of the sample agreed that they would like to see greater investment in Canadian content as well as more Canadian perspectives on TV and digital platforms.

Nine out of 10 of the sample support Canadian stories and content being owned and controlled by Canadians rather than U.S. companies and 86% are in favour of the government actively supporting cultural and creative industries through measures such as funding and tax credits. The same percentage noted that they support CBC producing content that reflects Canadian history, stories and values.

When it came to whether policies on Canadian culture and identity would impact the sample group’s political choices, 58% reported that they would be more likely to vote for a candidate that supports Canadian culture while 3% reported that they would be less inclined to vote for them.

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