Attitudes toward social inequality in Canada and the USA

Authors: Meryll Tiu and Andrew Parkin

Are Canadians more egalitarian than Americans? Are they more troubled by the existence of various forms of social inequality – such as those between rich and poor, men and women, white and Black – and more inclined to look to government to address them?

It is possible to test the notion that Canadians have a more egalitarian disposition than Americans by exploring opinions on a series of questions relating to social inequality. These questions are drawn from the 2025 AmericasBarometer surveys, conducted in parallel in the two countries.

The results present somewhat of a mixed picture. While there continue to be differences in opinions in the two countries on questions related to equality between men and women, Canadians and Americans have recently moved closer together on the issue of government action to address income inequality. On questions relating to racial equality, Canadians and Americans today express broadly similar views, though citizens are responding to very different social contexts and signals from their respective governments.

Two patterns in the distribution of opinions are apparent on both sides of the border. The first is familiar: in both Canada and the U.S., parties on the political left or in the centre are more supportive of efforts to advance social equality than their counterparts on the right. The second is related to age. In this case, one notable finding is that younger people are less insistent on gender equality than their older counterparts. This finding runs contrary to the expectation that support for equality is typically stronger among younger generations.

Read the report.

For more information, contact Dr. Andrew Parkin.

The AmericasBarometer is a regular comparative survey of democratic values and behaviours that covers countries in North, Central and South America, as well as a significant number of countries in the Caribbean (the 2025-26 study will cover 20 countries). The project is led by the LAPOP Lab at Vanderbilt University’s Center for Global Democracy (CGD). The Canadian and American surveys were conducted by the Environics Institute for Survey Research, in partnership with CGD’s LAPOP Lab at Vanderbilt University and with the support of the Max Bell Foundation. The author is solely responsible for any errors in presentation or interpretation.

The Canadian survey was conducted online with a sample of 3,550 Canadians (aged 18 and over) between July 30 and August 7, 2025. The results are weighted by region, age, gender, education and language so as to be fully representative of the Canadian population. The U.S. survey was conducted online with 1,600 Americans (18 years of age and older) between October 3 and 16, 2025. The results are weighted by region, age, gender, education and ethnicity so as to be fully representative of the American population.