Polls on GM Food Labelling in Canada

1994-Present

For 20 years, polls have shown that, consistently, over 80% of Canadians want mandatory labelling of GM foods.

November 1994. 95% of Canadians want the label to say if the food was genetically engineered. Optima.

June 1999. 92% of Manitobans believe GE food should be labeled. Prairie Research Associates, June 1999

December 1999. 81% of Canadians disagree with the statement that special labelling of GE foods is not necessary. Environics.

December 1999. 97% of Montrealers think that GE food should be labelled. SOM (for The Gazette, Montreal).

December 1999. 66% of Ontarians and Quebecers would be willing to pay more to have the GE content of food identified on product labels. Angus Reid (for Ontario Agri-Food Technologies Inc).

January 2000. 95% of Canadians familiar with GE foods want them labelled as such. Environics (for the Council of Canadians.

January 2000. 93% of Canadians believe that the government should demand that food companies voluntarily label GE products so they can make informed choices. Pollara & Earnscliffe.

August 2000. 94% of Canadians believe GE foods should be labelled as such. Omnitel (for the Canadian Health Food Association).

October 2000. More than 90% of Canadians want GE foods labelled. The main concern is food safety. Unilever (private poll reported in The Western Producer).

May 2001. 83% of Quebec farmers are in favour of mandatory labelling of GE food. Groupe Everest (for La Presse & La Banque Nationale).

August 2001. 63% of Canadians are less likely to buy a food product that is genetically modified or contains GM ingredients. 4% said they were more likely to buy the food product and 32% said it would make no difference. Ipsos-Reid (for Globe and Mail)

September 2001. 87% of Canadians want all genetically modified foods labelled. Ipsos-Reid (for the Task Force on Foods from Biotechnology).

September 2001. 95% strongly or generally favour Bill C-287, a mandatory labelling bill in parliament at the time the poll was conducted. 87% favour mandatory labelling. Only 12% are in favour of a voluntary approach. Decima (for Greenpeace Canada).

2001. Pollara/Earnscliffe poll, 94% of Canadians want mandatory labelling.

June 2002 84% of Canadians want labels on genetically modified foods. 55% would be willing to pay at least 10% more to get them. Earnscliffe (for the Canadian Biotechnology Secretariat).

December 2002. 75% of Canadians want genetically modified foods labelled. University of Alberta.

October 2003. 88% of Canadians believe that a label for GE foods should be made mandatory by the Canadian government. Decima, for the Consumers Association of Canada.

April 2004. 83% of Canadians are in favour of mandatory labelling of GE foods. 87% of Quebecers are in favour of mandatory labelling. Leger Marketing, for Greenpeace, Option consommateurs, and l’Union des consommateurs.

July 2012. 91% of Canadians want mandatory labelling. Leger Marketing (for Federation of Quebec Apple Producers)

2014. 50% of Albertans and 56% of British Columbians say they would support a ban on GMO foods in Canada. Insights West.

September 2015. 88% of Canadians want mandatory labelling according to an Ipsos Reid poll commissioned by CBAN.

June 2016. 78% of Canadians want labelling. The Strategic Counsel, Report on Consumer Views on Genetically Modified Foods, commissioned for Health Canada.

May 24, 2018. 88.6% of Canadians say all genetically modified foods/ingredients should be clearly labelled as such on food packages (70.1% strongly agree and 10.5% somewhat agree). Dalhousie University