Only 13% of people in BC have high trust in media, StatCan claims

Only about one in 10 British Columbians has high trust in the media, according to new data from Statistics Canada.

According to the national agency, just 13 per cent of the BC population has faith in the media.

Just under a quarter (24 per cent), meanwhile, said they have a high level of confidence in Canadian institutions in general (e.g. Parliament, schools, courts).

But close to two-thirds of people across Canada as a whole said they had a high level of trust in the police in 2023.

That made the police the most trusted institution in Canada last year.

Next was the justice system with 49 per cent, then schools at 45 per cent and the media at 37 per cent.

Parliament came bottom, with only 28 per cent of people involved in the Canadian Social Survey saying they had faith in the Ottawa assembly.

“Confidence in institutions and trust in media are interrelated, though somewhat different,” StatCan explained. “Confidence tends to refer to the performance of an institution, whereas trust in the media is more related to expectations and perceptions of truthful and unbiased reporting.

“Overall, 58 per cent of those who reported high confidence in four or more institutions also reported a high level of trust in news or information from the media. In comparison, 15 per cent of those who reported low confidence in institutions reported high trust in news or information from the media.”

The statistics agency also said that people who reported lower levels of life satisfaction were more likely to mistrust institutions.

People who reported strong finances, good mental health, high life satisfaction and high levels of trust in others were the most likely to have faith in Canadian institutions.