What Does it Mean to be a Canadian Today? New national research finds Canadians are broadly family-first, culturally connected and open to different people, ideas, and lifestyles

TORONTO, June 29, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- As Canadians prepare to mark Canada Day, new data from Vividata’s SCC | Study of the Canadian Consumer point to a country where family, cultural identity, traditional customs, and openness to difference are more likely to coexist than compete.

More than seven in 10 Canadians aged 14 and older—25.8 million people, or 71.7 per cent—say you do not need to be related by blood to be family. Nearly as many, 25 million Canadians or 69.5 per cent, say family is more important to them than career.

The findings also show broad national support for cultural connection and exposure to different perspectives. More than 22 million Canadians, or 61.2 per cent, say they find exposure to different cultures personally rewarding. Nearly six in 10 say it is important to respect traditional customs and beliefs, while 58.5 per cent say staying connected to their culture or ethnicity matters to them.

“Canada Day is a natural moment to ask what Canadians believe holds the country together,” said Pat Pellegrini, President and CEO of Vividata. “The data points to a more layered picture than the familiar divides we often hear about. Canadians show strong support for family, culture, and tradition, while also placing real value on different people, perspectives, and ways of life.”

Key findings from Vividata’s Spring 2026 SCC include:

• Newer Canadians place a premium on multicultural workplaces and purpose-driven brands: Among Canadians who have lived in Canada for two to five years, 56.6 per cent say they prefer to work in a multicultural environment, compared with 46 per cent of Canadians overall. More than half, 53.4 per cent, prefer brands that support their causes, versus 37.9 per cent nationally.
  
  
• Canada’s youngest surveyed cohort combines openness with respect for tradition: Among Canadians aged 14 to 17, 64.2 per cent say they like to be surrounded by different people, cultures, ideas, and lifestyles, while 67.8 per cent say it is important to respect traditional customs and beliefs.
  
  
• Older Canadians have the broadest view of family: More than three in four Canadians aged 65 and older, or 76.3 per cent, say people do not need to be related by blood to be family, compared with 64.8 per cent of Canadians aged 25 to 34.
  
  

One Country, Different Motivational Mixes

The national findings do not mean Canadians form one uniform audience. Vividata Drivers examines 15 broad motivational categories—including Belonging, Aspiration, Achievement, Security and The Good Life—and shows how the concentration of people who strongly resonate with those motivations can differ from one part of the country to another.

In British Columbia, 34.7 per cent of the Drivers audience shows high resonance for Wealth/Success, compared with 27.9 per cent nationally, while 27.2 per cent shows high resonance for Achievement, compared with 22.5 per cent nationally.

Alberta shows a different pattern, with higher concentrations of high-resonance audiences for Belonging, at 6.9 per cent compared with 4.9 per cent nationally; Aspiration, at 26.4 per cent compared with 22.4 per cent; and The Good Life, at 12.9 per cent compared with 10.6 per cent.

In Ontario, 33.8 per cent of the Drivers audience shows high resonance for Wealth/Success, compared with 27.9 per cent nationally, while 14.4 per cent shows high resonance for Security, compared with 12.3 per cent.

“Canadians may share broad values around family, culture and openness, but that does not make them one uniform audience,” Pellegrini said. “The differences we see across markets are a reminder that national messages need to leave room for local context and the different motivations people bring to the same ideas.”

Vividata’s SCC combines consumer attitudes and behaviours with media use, lifestyle, demographic, and market-level data, allowing organizations to understand the scale of an audience as well as the contexts in which messages may be most relevant.

About Vividata
Vividata is Canada’s authoritative source for insights on cross-media and consumer behaviour, delivering Unmatched Insights. Smarter Decisions. As the country’s leading provider of cross-platform audience measurement, Vividata surveys over 75,000 Canadians each year on 100,000+ variables, offering the most complete view of how people live, shop, and consume media. A not-for-profit governed by industry leaders, Vividata reinvests in innovation to provide unmatched, privacy-first insights. Its flagship SCC | Study of the Canadian Consumer is the largest syndicated study in Canada, complemented by solutions like Spatial, Relevance, and Metrica, along with specialized multicultural, sports, and brand affinity reports. Learn more at www.vividata.ca.

Andrew Findlater
SELECT Public Relations
afindlater@selectpr.ca
(647) 444-1197

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