Jesus most popular with older Canadians

As some Canadians celebrate the birth of the Christ Child on Dec. 25, polling shows that across the country, even in more secular areas, most Canadians have a favourable view of Jesus.

According to polling from Leger/Association for Canadian Studies, about 73 per cent of Canadians have a positive view of Jesus, whereas 27 per cent have a negative view of the son of God.

Jesus is most popular in Alberta, where 78 per cent of people say they have a positive view, and the most unpopular in British Columbia and Quebec, were 32 and 33 per cent, respectively, have a negative view of him.

Jesus is less popular among younger Canadians, with 18 per cent of those between the ages of 18 and 24 saying they have a “somewhat negative” view of Jesus and nearly nine per cent reporting a “very negative” view of him. Among those aged 24 to 35, nearly a quarter, or 24 per cent, say they have a “somewhat negative” view and 16 per cent have a “very negative” view. Compare that to those 75 and older, where just 13.7 per cent have a somewhat or very negative view of Christ.

Francophones are also less likely to look favourably upon Jesus: 36 per cent of French speakers have negative views of him, compared with just shy of 25 per cent of anglophones.

As well, Protestants like Jesus more than Catholics, with 61.8 per cent of Protestants having a “very positive” view of Jesus, and about 45 per cent of Catholics having a very positive view. Fifty-seven per cent of Muslims also have a very positive view of Jesus.

He's least popular among Jews (16 per cent have a very positive view) and atheists (8.5 per cent have a very positive view).

Unsurprisingly, the poll found that Canadians are spending less time shopping in stores this year. Retail has been limited as part of the effort to slow the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. Seventy-six per cent of Canadians planned to shop less in person, 18 per cent said they planned to spend the same amount of time shopping in person as previous years, and just one per cent planned to spend more time in shops.

While only 77 per cent of Maritimers have a positive view of the holiday, every other region surveyed showed its positivity rate between 84 per cent (Alberta) and 88 per cent (Ontario).

Women are more likely than men to have a very positive view of Christmas: 53.2 to 42.9 per cent. It's also generally popular across all ages, with those aged 18 to 24 having the most positive view.

The polling of 1,528 Canadians was done between Dec. 11 and 13. The margin of error is 3.1 per cent, 19 times out of 20.