Citizen support for democracy in Canada
Canada: Citizen support for democracy was 0.8493 in 2020. ▼ Falling
Citizen support for democracy in Canada, 2000–2020
Source: Claassen (2022) – processed by Our World in Data.
Analysis
The most recent figure for citizen support for democracy in Canada is 0.8493, measured in 2020.
Compared with earlier readings it is up 10.8% on the previous year and up 0.1% over ten years.
Over the whole period, citizen support for democracy in Canada peaked at 1.21 in 2006 and was at its lowest, 0.7663, in 2019.
That places Canada 21st out of 144 countries with data for 2020, putting it in the top quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 21 years of available data.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 1.04 | 0.859 | 1.21 | 10 |
| 2010s | 0.8473 | 0.7663 | 0.9016 | 10 |
| 2020s | 0.8493 | 0.8493 | 0.8493 | 1 |
Countries ranked near Canada
More social development data for Canada
- Political Rights Rating 1 (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of asy 416,028 (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of ori 360 (2025)
- Electoral democracy 1 (2025)
- Key features of democracy 0.84 (2025)
- Freedom of Expression Index 0.933 (2025)
- Freedom of Association Index 0.865 (2025)
- Electoral Democracy Index 0.84 (2025)
- Participatory Democracy Index 0.589 (2025)
- Liberal Democracy Index 0.736 (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is citizen support for democracy in Canada?
- Citizen support for democracy in Canada was 0.8493 in 2020, according to Claassen (2022) – processed by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest citizen support for democracy recorded in Canada?
- The highest recorded value was 1.21 in 2006.
- What is the lowest citizen support for democracy recorded in Canada?
- The lowest recorded value was 0.7663 in 2019.
- How does Canada rank for citizen support for democracy?
- Canada ranks 21st out of 144 countries with data for 2020.
- Is citizen support for democracy rising or falling in Canada?
- Over the last ten years it is up 0.1%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Canada data come from?
- The figures come from Claassen (2022) – processed by Our World in Data, published as part of Citizen support for democracy. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 21 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
About this data
Central estimate of the average extent to which citizens support a democratic political system and reject autocratic alternatives. It combines responses across more than one thousand nationally-representative surveys on how desirable citizens find democracy, how they evaluate undemocratic alternatives (such as a strong unelected leader, the army, or religious authorities), and how they assess democratic and autocratic political systems relative to another.