Canadians are twice as likely to attribute climate change as the cause of recent extreme weather events rather than natural variations of weather patterns, according to a new poll by Nanos Research for CTV News.

Of the respondents, 64 per cent believe that high-intensity storms and extreme weather events, such as wildfires and floods, are a result of a changing climate, while more than one in four believe extreme weather is a result of natural variations in the weather. Eight per cent of respondents were unsure, Nanos reports.

According to the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre, of land so far in what鈥檚 been described as the worst wildfire season in the country's history.

The data also showed that 43.3 per cent of respondents from the Prairies said they attribute extreme weather to climate change, while more than 60 per cent of respondents in B.C., Ontario, Quebec, and Atlantic regions cite climate change as the cause.

The highest percentage of respondents who blame climate change for extreme weather came from Quebec, at 75.9 per cent.

The survey also found that a majority (59 per cent) of Canadians support establishing a national wildfire department that would enable teams of firefighters to respond to incidents anywhere in the country.

Twenty-six per cent somewhat support this protective initiative, while seven percent oppose and four per cent somewhat oppose such a department.

On top of this, Nanos reports that slightly more than half of Canadians are at least somewhat willing to contribute more in taxes to support the development of a national wildfire department.

The findings show that 31 per cent of respondents would support paying more in taxes for a national wildfire service, while 28 per cent of respondents said they are not willing to. A smaller minority (16 per cent) are 鈥渟omewhat not willing to.鈥�

METHODOLOGY

Nanos conducted an RDD dual frame (land- and cell-lines) hybrid telephone and online random survey of 1081 Canadians, 18 years of age or older, between July 30th to August 2nd, 2023, as part of an omnibus survey. The margin of error for this survey is ±3.0 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.

Correction:

Edits have been made throughout to more accurately convey the data from the survey.