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Canadians want more government regulation of the food and beverage, banking and health industries at a time when public confidence in business and corporate leaders is waning, according to global research released by public relations giant Edelman.
Trust levels declined dramatically in the past year in Canada to thresholds not seen in this country since the financial crisis in 2008, according to the annual Edelman Trust Barometer. Only 47% of Canadian respondents said they trusted business, down significantly from 62% in 2014, while confidence levels for chief executive officers dropped to 28% in Canada in early 2015, down from 33% in 2014.
“These numbers signal the economic recovery may be over,” said Richard Edelman, chief executive of Edelman, which publishes the survey results. “Certainly Canada’s economy is softer this year than it was last year.”
In total, 33,000 people were surveyed in 27 countries and, overall, 57% of the respondents said they trusted business, slightly down from 59% in 2014. However, businesses’ credibility slide below the 50% threshold on a global scale was registered in more than half of the countries surveyed by Edelman– the worst reading since 2008. The largest double-digit declines of 10 percentage points or more were found in Canada, Germany, Australia, and Singapore.
The opposite was true in the U.S., where confidence in business rose to 60% from 58% in 2014, as the American economy continues its recovery.
The report revealed Canadians are increasingly taking a jaundiced view of companies operating in four key sectors: automotive, which saw its trust ranking plunge to 50% in 2015 from 63% in 2014, followed by energy with 49% from 59%, chemicals at 37% from 47%, and consumer health at 56% from 68%. Interestingly, banking and financial services sectors fared slightly better with trust rankings of 56% and 51% respectively in 2015, although both suffered single-digit declines from 2014.
Among those companies most trusted by Canadians surveyed were overwhelmingly family-owned businesses, which garnered 79% trust ranking, followed by Crown corporations at 45%, and big business with 41% of support from those surveyed.
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