TORONTO — Canadians’ trust in the country’s telecom providers has shot up during the Covid-19 pandemic, according to the latest Edelman Trust Barometer.
In the spring update to its global study measuring citizens’ trust levels in various industries and institutions, public relations and marketing consultancy firm Edelman found trust in the Canadian telecom industry has risen 19 percentage points since January 2020, before the pandemic started. Overall, 71% of survey respondents indicated they trusted telecom providers to do what is right during the pandemic.
Fieldwork for the online survey was conducted from April 15 to 23, 2020. Edelman’s previous study in January 2020 was based on research conducted between October 19 and November 18, 2019.
Compared to other industries included in the spring survey, Canadians’ trust in telecoms had the highest percentage point increase. In comparison, trust in the healthcare industry (83%) rose by 14 percentage points since January 2020, and trust in the consumer packaged goods (CPG) sector (74%) rose by 17 percentage points.
When it comes to trust in media companies, 75% of Canadian survey respondents said they trust traditional media for general news and information, which is a 10-percentage-point increase since January 2020. Canadians’ trust in search engines (58%) and social media (32%) rose by five and six percentage points, respectively.
Overall, Canadians are also optimistic positive change will come in the long term after the pandemic, according to the survey. Seventy-one percent of Canadians agreed with the statement that the pandemic “will lead to valuable innovations and changes for the better in how we live, work and treat each other as people,” compared to 29% who felt “nothing good will come from this pandemic.”
Canada ranked only second behind Mexico in optimism and was well above the global average of 64% positive vs. 36% negative.
Based on responses from the survey participants, the key takeaways from the study are the following:
- Tangible action is needed to preserve trust for the long term.
- Business and government must collaborate on solutions.
- Business must recognize and respond to heightened expectations.
- CEOs must demonstrate public leadership.
- The return to work is the test for trust.
To access the 2020 Edelman Trust Barometer Spring Update, please click here.
