Canadians are keen to serve their country, according to a new public opinion poll.
The Angus Reid Institute surveyed 1,619 Canadians and found that nearly three out of four support the idea of mandatory public service for citizens under thirty.
The survey asked respondents about donating a year of time in four areas – public health, the environment, youth services, and civil protection, which includes activities like firefighting and disaster response.
Support for the idea averaged more than 70 percent across these four sectors.
The Angus Reid Institute said it wanted to take the pulse on public and military service amid the rise in “Elbows Up” patriotism.
“We live in an era where society feels… way more divided in terms of how they see their country,” Shachi Kurl, the pollster’s president, told CBC.
“There’s nothing like being in a situation where you are interacting with people from different walks of life, different cultures, different linguistic backgrounds … [to] have a better understanding of where people are coming from.”
Service as a way to get some life and job skills
Both Canada and Europe have run programs that encourage young people to give their time to their communities.
The European Solidarity Corps offers citizens of European Union countries aged 18 to 30 the opportunity to apply for funding to create their own community-focused project or participate in existing volunteer projects in Europe or abroad.
Commitments can be as short as two weeks or as long as 12 months. Participants get training and ongoing mentorship throughout their time of service commitment.
For 50 years Canada World Youth offered international education and development programs for young Canadians, however the non-profit closed in 2022 due to post-COVID pandemic funding shortfalls.
Military Service Far Less Popular
Participants in the Angus Reid survey were much more divided on the idea of mandatory military service. While overall 43 percent were in favor and 41 percent opposed to the idea, the results varied significantly across age and gender.
Men aged 18-29 tended to be opposed to military service.
Not surprisingly, older men showed net support for conscription – easy to do when you have passed the age of military service.
Women across the board were fairly opposed to military service, with the exception of women over sixty, who were slightly more likely to support it.
Value-added military service in Europe
France and Norway each have a form of compulsory military service as a way to build public engagement and give citizens experience in a variety of public-serving sectors.
This fall, France’s government is launching a Defense and Citizenship Day (JDC). The JDC is a reinvention of an existing program and is aimed at 16 to 25 year olds as part of the country’s military preparedness efforts.
In Norway, young people compete for a year of military service. In 2023, of the more than 24,000 Norwegians under 19 who took part in physical tests, 9,840 were selected. Thirty-six percent were women.
Some countries have tweaked this conscription model to apply to other areas of public service. For example, the United Kingdom’s First Aid Nursing Yeomanry can activate health care experts in times of emergency.
Starting in July 2025, all Danes over 18 are required to report for military service. Conscripts have the option of requesting deployment to the Danish Emergency Management Agency.
