Ontario is one of the angriest places in Canada: study

Police officers push back protestors during a protest against COVID-19 measures that has grown into a broader anti-government protest continues to occupy downtown Ottawa on Friday, Feb. 18, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Cole Burston

Ontario has been found to be the second angriest region in the country, according to a new study.

Pollara, a think tank and accredited member of the Canadian Research Insights Council, released its latest Rage Index on Friday.

Issues like housing, inflation and politics sparked anger and annoyance among 60 per cent of Ontarians surveyed for the study. The province ranks second below Alberta, at 63 per cent.

Other provinces with the most bothered Canadians include Manitoba and Saskatchewan grouped together at 57 per cent, and Atlantic Canada at 58 per cent.

The Rage Index tracks the mood of Canadians regarding governments, economy and current events.

CANADIANS ‘VERY’ ANGRY ABOUT SITUATIONS IN UKRAINE, MIDDLE EAST

The study found that close to half of all Canadians are very angry about situations like the war in Ukraine and the conflict in Israel and Gaza.

In addition, 70 per cent of respondents were annoyed or angry at the Canadian Parliament accidentally giving an ovation to a veteran who fought for Nazi Germany. Fifty per cent were annoyed or angry at the Trudeau government’s announcement on an Indian government being involved in the assassination of a Canadian Sikh activist.

However, the report also found that the level of anger towards governments, overall, is down from September. Twenty per cent of respondents reported feeling very angry about the federal government, and 18 per cent reported feeling that way about their own provincial government.

CANADIANS STILL ANGRY ABOUT THE 6 RAGE INDEX TOPICS

Other points of anger and annoyance were from personal finances, the types of changes happening in Canada, and the latest stories in the news.

There was no change in the percentage of Canadians who felt very angry about the six topics –the federal government, their provincial government, the Canadian economy, personal financial situation, changes happening in Canada, and the latest stories in the news -- in the Rage Index.

There was a one per cent increase in the average percentage of Canadians annoyed or angry about those six topics.

Young Canadians between the ages of 18 and 34 felt the most frustrated about the economy, at 68 per cent, and their own personal finances, at 47 per cent.

METHODOLOGY

The study analyzed over 3,000 Canadians’ moods from Nov. 3 to Nov. 15, 2023, and compared results to data collected from previous studies done.

There were 879 Ontarians interviewed at that time, with a 3.3 per cent margin of error. Overall, there were 3,000 respondents in Canada and a 1.8 per cent margin of error.

According to the report, interviews were conducted through an online survey with randomly selected samples.