About 40% of Canadians, Americans believe lasting peace can be reached in Ukraine war: poll

Almost half of Canadians believe the federal government is providing the right amount of support to Ukraine in the war against Russia, while 14 per cent think Canada is not supportive enough, according to a new poll.

The poll, which was conducted by Leger for the Metropolis Institute and the Association for Canadian Studies, compared Canadian and American opinions about the war, which started in 2014, but reached a new height in 2022 when Russia invaded Ukraine.

The poll found that Americans were more likely to think their country isn’t doing enough to support Ukraine. Just under one third (29 per cent) said the United States isn’t doing enough, while 26 per cent said support was about right and 19 per cent said the U.S. has been too supportive. In Canada, 17 per cent of respondents thought their country was doing too much.

Almost half of Canadians said they’ve been following the conflict very closely (12 per cent) or somewhat closely (36 per cent), while 32 per cent said “not very closely” and 16 per cent said they haven’t been following the war at all. Americans have been paying about the same amount of attention, with 15 per cent following it very closely, 28 per cent somewhat closely, 27 per cent not very closely and a quarter of respondents in the U.S. saying they haven’t been following the war at all.

Among the 12 per cent of Canadians who are following the events in Ukraine closely, 47 per cent of them believe Canada supports Ukraine the right amount, while 38 per cent believe that Canada is not supportive enough.

Jack Jedwab, president and CEO of the Association for Canadian Studies and the Metropolis Institute, said Canadians don’t feel like they have much control over the outcome of the war. “At this particular time, Canadians do not feel that their support is providing for a significant impact in that regard,” he said, adding that Canadians were more supportive of Ukraine at the start of the war.

“We’re not seeing the same type of mobilization that we saw at the front of the conflict. You’re not seeing a lot of Ukrainian flags or symbols out there,” he said.

Fewer than half of Canadian respondents (47 per cent) said they have a fairly good understanding of the conflict, while 11 per cent said they have barely any understanding at all.

Canadians over 35 years old feel like they have a better understanding of the conflict compared to those under 35, the poll found.

“Those people who are in those older cohorts feel they have a better understanding of the conflict than the younger cohorts do,” said Jedwab. “That doesn’t mean they’re right or not right, but that’s how they feel.”

About half (49 per cent) of Canadians between 24 and 34 years old said that they have a good understanding, while 39 per cent of Canadians between 18 and 24 years old feel like they don’t have the best understanding of the issue.

Americans and Canadians have a similar view about whether or not lasting peace can be reached. A plurality (42 per cent of Canadians and 40 per cent of Americans) think it can, while 28 per cent of Canadians and 26 per cent of Americans think lasting peace cannot be reached. In both countries, about a third said they don’t know.

“When you are in North America, we think all conflicts can be resolved. But unfortunately, in some parts of the world there’s no quick fix,” said Jedwab.

Men seem to be more optimistic than women, with 51 per cent and 34 per cent respectively believing lasting peace can be found between Russia and Ukraine.

According to the British Ministry of Defence, more than one million Russian troops have been killed or injured in the past three years, and more than 400,000 Ukrainians have been killed or injured.

The online survey of 1,511 Canadians and 1,011 Americans was conducted by Leger between June 6 and 8, 2025.

A margin of error cannot be associated with a non-probability sample in a panel survey. A probability sample of 1,511 respondents in Canada would have a margin of error of plus or minus plus or minus 2.5 per cent, 19 times out of 20.

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