A new Research Co. poll suggests a majority of Canadians support bringing back the death penalty for murder, though fewer choose it when asked to compare it directly with life imprisonment without parole.
The online survey found 60 per cent of Canadians support reinstating capital punishment for murder, up six points from a similar poll conducted in February 2025.
Thirty per cent said they oppose bringing it back.
Canada eliminated the death penalty for murder in July 1976.
Support was highest in B.C. and Saskatchewan, Manitoba, where 67 per cent of respondents said they favoured reinstating the death penalty for murder.
Support was also above the national average in Alberta at 65 per cent and Ontario at 62 per cent.
Atlantic Canada was at 55 per cent, while Quebec had the lowest level of support at 50 per cent.
Among Canadians who support capital punishment, 56 per cent said a convicted murderer has taken a life and the punishment fits the crime.
Another 52 per cent said they believe it would deter potential murderers, while 49 per cent said it would provide closure to the families of murder victims.
Forty-six per cent said it would save taxpayers money and reduce the costs of keeping murderers in prison, while 31 per cent said murderers cannot be rehabilitated.
Among opponents of the death penalty, 66 per cent said they are worried about someone being wrongly convicted and executed.
Forty-nine per cent said murderers should serve their time in prison as indicated by a judge.
Other reasons cited by opponents included doubt that capital punishment would serve as a deterrent, at 39 per cent, the view that taking a convicted murderer’s life is wrong, at 35 per cent, and the belief that murderers can be rehabilitated, at 18 per cent.
The poll also found 56 per cent of Canadians think capital punishment is “sometimes appropriate,” while 23 per cent said it is “never” appropriate and 14 per cent said it is “always” appropriate.
However, when respondents were asked to choose between two approaches for murder convictions, life imprisonment without the possibility of parole was preferred over the death penalty.
Just under half of respondents, 49 per cent, chose life imprisonment without parole, while 39 per cent chose the death penalty.
In that question, Albertans were most likely to choose the death penalty, at 48 per cent.
The figure was 40 per cent in Ontario and B.C., 37 per cent in Quebec, 36 per cent in Saskatchewan and Manitoba, and 31 per cent in Atlantic Canada.
“The political divide on how to deal with murder cases in Canada is staggering,” said Mario Canseco, president of Research Co.
“While majorities of Canadians who voted for the Liberals or the New Democrats in 2025 would maintain life imprisonment without parole, most Conservatives would bring back the death penalty.”
Research Co. said 57 per cent of Liberal voters and 65 per cent of NDP voters in 2025 preferred life imprisonment without parole, while 54 per cent of Conservative voters preferred the death penalty.
The survey also found respondents of East Asian descent were more likely to prefer the death penalty over life imprisonment for murder convictions, at 48 per cent.
That compared with 39 per cent among respondents of European descent, 39 per cent among South Asian respondents and 33 per cent among Indigenous respondents.
The poll was conducted online from June 4 to June 6 among 1,001 adults in Canada.
The data was statistically weighted according to census figures for age, gender and region.
The margin of error is plus or minus 3.1 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.
