July 21, 2026 – Canadians continue to express strong support for workplace protections, even as they face significant economic uncertainty. New national research conducted by Pollara Strategic Insights on behalf of the Canadian Labour Congress finds broad, cross-partisan support for measures that strengthen worker protections, while proposals that would make it harder for workers to exercise their right to strike receive little public support.
The research highlights a clear distinction in public opinion. Canadians overwhelmingly view measures such as stronger health and safety protections, faster workplace dispute resolution, action on wage theft and employee misclassification, paid sick day protections, successor rights, and new safeguards for workers affected by AI and automation as fair. At the same time, they are far less supportive of proposals that would delay or restrict the right to strike, suggesting the public differentiates between protecting workers and limiting collective bargaining rights.
The survey also finds that Canadians see strong labour protections as part of a healthy economy rather than an obstacle to it. Nine in ten say these protections are important to Canada’s economic stability, while individual workers are viewed as the most trusted voices on labour issues, ahead of academics, unions, governments, and employers.
These findings are based on an online survey of 1,950 Canadian adults (18+) conducted between June 9 and June 18, 2026. The study included an oversample of union members to enable more detailed analysis and forms part of broader research examining public attitudes toward proposed changes to the Canada Labour Code, including message testing to identify the most effective ways of communicating about labour protections.
For more on this see our full report, including methodology and crosstabs.
