In a confidential Privy Council report, it was revealed that inflation has led to decreasing public support for products and services branded as being aligned with climate change initiatives. Even though half of Canadians expressed their support for these efforts, most stated that they would not pay more than a 10 percent premium for products and services branded as helping to “limit climate change.” The report noted that “competing factors like inflation have moderated the attention paid to climate change.”
The report’s conclusions were based on a survey conducted by Impact Canada between December 2021 and March 2023. The survey found that nearly half of respondents were willing to pay a premium of 1 to 10 percent. Additionally, 23 percent of those surveyed said they would be willing to pay a substantial premium of at least 11 percent or more while another 23 percent said they were not willing to pay anything.
Despite 58 percent of Canadians acknowledging the urgent need for climate change action, only 30 percent strongly agreed climate change would personally harm them. Furthermore, 27 percent of those polled stated that they believed they were already doing enough to impact climate change. However, most Canadians stated that they frequently recycled and actively reduced food waste.
Significantly, transportation habits aligned with climate change initiatives were found to be lower on the priority list, with 87 percent of respondents expressing dependence on private vehicles. The report also noted that ownership of electric and hybrid vehicles was highest in households with income of more than $200,000.