Citizen’s of Canada Worries on Safety and Security

By GFK, Special for USDR

In just-released GfK research, almost three in ten (27%) Canadian consumers report that they are “always concerned” about their safety and security¹ – five percentage points below the global average (32%). Canadian respondents were also slightly more likely (11% versus 10%) to disagree strongly with that statement.

According to the GfK survey of 21 countries, people in Brazil, Mexico, Turkey and Russia have the highest levels of worry; these are the only countries surveyed where more than half of consumers agree strongly – choosing “6” or “7” on a scale of 1 to 7 – with the notion of always feeling concerned about their safety. This anxiety is most pronounced in Brazil – about to host the 2016 Summer Olympics – where roughly two-thirds (64%) expressed the highest level of worry about their safety and security.

On the other hand, Sweden, Germany and Netherlands have the highest levels of perceived safety and security. These countries are the only ones surveyed where less than 15% of consumers strongly agree with the idea of always being concerned about safety – ranking them well below the global average (32%).

Canadian women more concerned about security than men

Looking at the difference between genders, Canadian women are a little more worried about safety and security than men — 29% for women versus 24% for men. These figures are below the global averages of 30% for men and 34% for women who agree strongly that they are always worried about safety and security.

Age has minimal impact on safety concerns

Among the different age groups in Canada, people 40 to 49 years old expressed the most anxiety about their safety and security, with 31% strongly agreeing that they are concerned. Other highly concerned age groups are those 15 to 19 (28%), 30 to 39 (28%), and 60+ (27%). For Canadians in the 20-to-29 and 50-to-59 age groups, the concern for safety and security drops slightly below 24%.

Footnotes

(1) Bottom two boxes and top two boxes from a seven point scale, where “1” means “disagree strongly,” and “7” means “agree strongly.”

About the study

The survey question asked: “Please indicate how strongly you personally agree or disagree with the statement, “I am always concerned about my safety and security,” using this scale where 1 means “disagree strongly” and 7 means “agree strongly.”

GfK conducted the online survey with over 25,000 consumers aged 15 or older in 21 countries. Fieldwork was completed in June 2015 and data are weighted to reflect the demographic composition of the online population age 15+ in each market. The countries included are Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, China, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Italy, Mexico, Netherlands, Poland, Russia, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Turkey, UK and USA.