Canadians want some COVID-19 ‘conveniences’ to stay

Day-to-day activities have changed, and some things are welcomed long-term

As provincial governments loosen red tape on everything from alcohol sales to medical appointments amid COVID-19, some Canadians are giving the new normal standing ovations.

And they’d like it to be just that: the new normal.

SecondStreet.org, an organization that looks at how government regulations affect Canadians, released the results of a survey conducted by market research firm Léger in which 1,526 adults across the country were asked about loosened restrictions that some governments have implemented since the COVID-19 outbreak.

Among the results: > 91 per cent of respondents want continued home delivery of medication from pharmacies;

> 87 per cent want patients to continue to have the option of virtual appointments with doctors;

> 81 per cent want to continue to allow pharmacists to extend prescriptions without requiring a renewal from the patient’s doctor;

> 81 per cent wanted drivers to continue to be able to renew their licences by phone, email or online;

> 74 per cent want to continue allowing people to submit documents via the internet for court purposes;

> 66 per cent want to continue to have wills witnessed by a notary public by video conference;

> 64 per cent want to continue to allow victim impact statements to be provided by phone;

> 64 per cent want to continue the sale of alcohol with takeout and delivery orders;

> 51 per cent want continued home delivery of cannabis by legalized cannabis stores.

Colin Craig, president of SecondStreet.org, said the poll results show Canadians are generally OK with government regulations, but cracks start to emerge once they’re asked for more details.

People are particularly supportive of pulling back red tape when it comes to medical issues.

The organization has been keeping track of how governments and jurisdictions of different levels have been relaxing or enforcing restrictions so far, such as allowing distilleries to produce hand sanitizer and expediting licences to health-care workers.

“Some governments may look at these results and say that we didn’t implement this. But this is an opportunity for provinces to look at each other and what other jurisdictions are doing in removing regulations to help people and businesses,” Craig said.

The poll broke down responses by demographics.

Among the findings: Respondents in Western Canada say there are too many government regulations.

People older than 35 favour the option of having medications delivered slightly more than those who are younger. And more affluent residents of Saskatchewan, Quebec and New Brunswick favour the pulling back of regulations in the legal and regulatory fields. Quebec residents show the least support for nonbilingual product labelling.