Advance Care Planning 2021 National Poll

The Advance Care Planning in Canada initiative commissioned a national poll to identify people’s current attitudes and behaviors towards planning for their future health and personal care. The poll was conducted by Nanos Research in February and March 2021 and surveyed 3,002 Canadians 18 years and older.

While the poll results tell us that Canadians are taking action and having those important conversations around advance care planning, there’s still work to be done to demystify the process.

Poll Highlights:

• Between 2019 and 2021, the number of Canadians who talked to a family member almost doubled: from one in three (36%) to almost two in three (59%).
• Even though 77% of Canadians think it’s important to talk to their health care providers about their wishes, only 7% said they had done so (down from 8% in 2019).
• 70% of Canadians (compared to 63% in 2019) felt comfortable having advance care planning conversations.
• In 2021, more than four in 10 Canadians (42%) thought it was important to start planning young: up from 36% in 2019. The ideal age? Between 35 and 54.
• The main barriers seem to be lack of information or resources. Canadians also said they: couldn’t afford a lawyer or professional to help them (16%), didn’t know how to prepare a plan (14%) and didn’t know where to go for information and advice (12%)