POR-514-06
February 2007
Prepared for:
Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada
125 Sussex Drive
Ottawa,Ontario
K0A 0G2
www.international.gc.ca
kevin.chappell@international.gc.ca
Prepared by :
GlobeScan
A 2007 survey conducted by Globescan in conjunction with the British Broadcasting Association reveals that Canada is viewed very positively in 25 of the 27 countries surveyed. The tracking data reveal that, over the last three years, the percentage of respondents who say that Canada has a positive influence increased in 12 countries, remained the same in four and dropped in 11 countries.
Domestically, over four in five Canadians (84%) say that Canada has a mainly positive influence on the world; only 10% say that Canada has a negative influence. Internationally, the French give Canada the highest marks (78%) for having a positive influence on the world, followed by Australians (75%) and South Koreans (73%). Over two thirds of Kenyans (68%) say that Canada's influence on the world is positive, with 67% saying the same in both the Philippines and the United Arab Emirates. Additionally, 65% in each of China, Germany, Great Britain, Portugal and the United States say that Canada has a positive influence internationally. Canada also gets positive ratings in Italy (62%), Chile (61%) and Nigeria (at 60%).
Slimmer majorities in Poland (55%), Lebanon (52%) and Russia (51%) believe that Canada has a positive influence. Further down the scale, pluralities in Indonesia (47%), Hungary (46%), Brazil (45%), Mexico and Argentina (at 39% each) and India (33%) all say that Canada has a positive influence internationally. Although only 28% in Turkey say that Canada has a positive influence, even fewer Turks (20%) say that Canada has a negative one. In fact, 53% of Turks say that "it depends," are neutral or don't know.
The Greeks are more likely than any other nationality to say that Canada has a negative influence on the world, with 63% holding this view and only 23% saying that Canada's influence is positive. In Egypt, 22% believe that Canada has a negative influence, with 12% saying that Canada's influence is positive; however, overall the Egyptians (65%), the Turks (53%) and the Indians (52%) are the most undecided or uninformed about Canada's influence on the world.
This study surveyed 28,389 people in 27 countries and reveals that Canada has a mainly positive image in 25 of the 27 countries surveyed.
The BBC World Service has been tracking opinions about countries' influence in the world over the last three years (2005-2007). The BBC World/Globescan survey is conducted in collaboration with the Program on International Policy Attitudes (PIPA) at the University of Maryland. In 10 of the 27 countries, the sample was limited to major urban areas. The margin of error for each country ranges from +/-3.1% to +/-4.9%, 19 times out of 20. Since some samples were limited to urban areas only, they are not representative of the known population.
Note: The results of the question on how the world perceives Canada from the recent Globescan survey were published on the BBC World Service for 26 of the 27 countries surveyed, though the Canadian results on how we perceive ourselves were omitted from publication. Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada, having obtained a copy of the BBC results, needed to disseminate the findings to senior management via a "Public Opinion Research Bulletin" (the communiqué of record on opinion research). To do this, the department contacted Globescan but did not have the budget for the approximately $25,000 required to purchase the "Corporate Social Responsibility Monitor" in full; hence the absence of the survey report. Globescan refused to provide the Canadian data gratis, and the department was required to pay $2,000 for the one- page table of Canadian results, which answer a single question of the survey. This combined with the BBC results provided the information for this Executive Summary. The full results on international perceptions of Canada would have filled an information gap that has been identified by DFAIT.