Generation Z: Portrait of a New Generation of Young Canadians and How They Compare to Older Canadians

A report commissioned by Elections Canada
Produced by Valérie-Anne Mahéo, PhD and
Éric Bélanger, PhD
January 2021

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Table of Content

• List of Figures
• List of Tables
• Note to the Reader
• Executive Summary
• Key Findings
• Introduction
• Survey and Data
• Social and Political Orientations
  1. Social attitudes
     1. Trust toward others
     2. Materialism
  2. Political attitudes
     1. Political trust
     2. Political cynicism
     3. Satisfaction with democracy
     4. Who should make policy decisions in democracy?
     5. Partisanship
• Political Engagement
  1. Political resources
     1. Political knowledge
     2. Feelings of political competency
     3. Political interest
  2. Media consumption
     1. Frequency of news consumption
     2. News sources
     3. Trust in news sources
  3. Social resources
     1. Social networks: Political discussions
     2. School: Civics courses and mock elections
     3. Political parties
• Political Participation
  1. Attitudes towards the electoral process
     1. Duty to vote
     2. Trust in Elections Canada
     3. Interest in working at a poll
     4. Youth registration
     5. Ease of voting in a federal election
     6. Lowering the voting age
  2. Political and civic behaviours
     1. Climate action
     2. Turnout
     3. Electoral campaign activities
     4. Other non-electoral forms of participation
• Conclusion
• Recommendations
  • Political socialization and democratic education
  • Disseminating information and communication strategies
  • Access to the electoral process
  • Other initiatives promoting engagement in Canadian democracy
• References
• Appendix 1: Survey Respondent Profiles and Regressions
• Appendix 2: Survey Questions
  1. Demographics
  2. Issues
  3. Political knowledge
  4. Voter turnout
  5. Political feelings and opinions
     1. Political ideology, interest and news
     2. Campaign activities
     3. Participation frequency in past months
     4. Climate activity
  6. Attitudes
     1. Political attitudes
     2. Materialism
     3. Trust levels
     4. Party identification
     5. Youth question
     6. News sources

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