Should childhood vaccinations be mandatory? Almost 70% of Canadians think so, according to a new poll

Jennifer Yoon · CBC News

· Posted: May 29, 2025 4:57 PM EDT | Last Updated: 3 hours ago

Measles cases are surging crossed Canada, truthful it mightiness not travel arsenic a astonishment that astir 70 per cent of Canadians surveyed precocious agreed that childhood vaccinations should beryllium mandatory.

The Angus Reid Institute polled astir 1,700 Canadian adults online betwixt May 20 and May. 23, asking them if impervious of immunization should beryllium required for kids to be daycare oregon schools.

Sixty-nine per cent said yes — an summation from past year, erstwhile lone 55 per cent of respondents agreed that vaccinations should beryllium mandatory for kids.

Maxwell Smith, a bioethicist and subordinate prof astatine Western University's School of Health Studies, says the fig suggests mandating puerility vaccinations is not arsenic divisive arsenic erstwhile thought. 

"Given what we conscionable experienced with COVID and controversies astir vaccine mandates, I deliberation this is wherefore this fig is rather striking," helium said.

• View the afloat results of the poll

Canada is successful the midst of the worst measles outbreak since the microorganism was declared eliminated backmost successful 1998. Ontario remains the bosom of the outbreak: Public Health Ontario said 1,938 radical person gotten sick with measles truthful acold successful 2025. 

Smith says those numbers whitethorn person changed peoples' minds. 

"In these circumstances, wherever you person an unprecedented measles outbreak and you person the lives of children connected the line, sometimes, that's the tipping point," helium said.

In Ontario and New Brunswick, impervious of vaccination is already required for children to be school. But parents tin get an exemption successful some provinces for medical, spiritual oregon philosophical reasons, arsenic agelong arsenic they capable retired a form.

In Ontario, they besides person to ticker a vaccine acquisition video. Parents who motion an exemption indispensable besides hold to propulsion their kids retired of schoolhouse oregon daycare if determination is an outbreak of a vaccine-preventable disease. 

When asked if the authorities should rethink this argumentation arsenic measles burns done pockets of unvaccinated communities, Premier Doug Ford said helium can't marque parents vaccinate their children.

"How bash you unit someone? Do you drawback their kid and commencement jabbing them with a needle?" helium told reporters earlier this month.

The Angus Reid canvass besides asked respondents how assured they were that their provincial governments could grip a measles outbreak. It found that 27 per cent of those surveyed successful Ontario said they had nary assurance astatine all.

Respondents successful Alberta had adjacent little trust: 37 per cent of respondents said they had nary assurance successful their province's quality to respond to a measles outbreak — adjacent arsenic cases proceed to ascent successful that province. So acold this year, 628 Albertans person been diagnosed with measles. 

The survey lone reported responses from radical successful the 10 provinces, not Nunavut, Northwest Territories or Yukon, wherever the percentage of the colonisation represented successful the effect was so debased it's not reportable, the pollster said.

Online surveys cannot beryllium assigned a borderline of mistake due to the fact that they bash not randomly illustration the population, but a randomized illustration of the size of the Angus Reid canvass would output a borderline of mistake of +/- 2 percent points, 19 times retired of 20.

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