Wealth and inequality in Canada and the USA

Do Canadians and Americans want their governments to take action?

Income inequality is patently visible in today’s society. To what extent does the public look to their governments to act to narrow the gap between rich and poor, and how have such expectations changed over the past decade or so?

We address this question by drawing on the AmericasBarometer surveys in Canada and the United States, including the most recent ones conducted in the summer and early autumn of 2025.

The survey finds that a plurality (44%) of Canadians agree that government should implement strong policies to reduce income inequality between the rich and the poor, three times as many as who disagree (15%) with this statement. Similarly, four in ten (40%) Americans agree, almost twice as many as the proportion who disagree (22%). But while opinions have been relatively stable in Canada, the latest results in the U.S. reflect a major shift in public sentiment over time.

This overall change in the U.S.  is driven by an even larger shift in opinion among supporters of the Republican Party. In the past, a strong majority of Republican Party supporters opposed government action to reduce income inequality. But opposition among this group has dropped by more than half; today only one in three disagree with the statement.

The report also explores how the public views the role of such super-wealthy individuals at a time when more people are struggling with rising costs and economic insecurity. Do billionaires have a positive influence on the economy because they drive innovation and create jobs? Or do they have a negative influence because they keep too much of the wealth for themselves instead of sharing it with the rest of us? The survey finds that billionaires do not enjoy a good public reputation in either Canada or the U.S.. A majority in both countries view them as having a negative influence on the economy.

Read the report.

For more information about this study, contact Dr. Andrew Parkin, Executive Director.

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.