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January 06, 2026QUALITY OF LIFE: CONFIDENCE IN INSTITUTIONS, Q4 2024 Statistics Canada has updated data from the Canadian Social Survey about how Canadians perceive their quality of life, specifically on Canadians' confidence in the following institutions: police, justice/courts, schools, Federal Parliament and Canadian media. This information was collected from October-December 2024. National data does not include any results from the Territories. Results are stated as the share of the population reporting.
Among the five institutions surveyed, Canadians had the strongest confidence in police in Q4 2024. Nova Scotians' confidence in police (62.0% reporting the highest levels of confidence) was slightly below the national average (63.4%). Confidence in police was highest in Québec and lowest in British Columbia.
Nova Scotians' confidence in the justice system and courts (52.0% reporting the highest levels of confidence) was higher than the national average (48.2%). Québec reported the highest confidence in justice and courts while Newfoundland and Labrador reported the lowest confidence in the justice system and courts.
Nova Scotians had lower than average confidence in the school system in Q4 2024 with 42.1% reporting the highest levels of confidence (national: 45.0%). Across Canada confidence in the school system was highest in Prince Edward Island and Lowest in New Brunswick.
Confidence in Federal Parliament was notably lower than for other institutions. Nova Scotians had a less than average confidence in Canada's Federal Parliament with just 23.1% reporting the highest levels of confidence (national: 28.3%). Confidence in the Federal Parliament was highest in Québec and lowest in Alberta and Saskatchewan.
Nova Scotians had higher confidence in Canadian media (43.4% reported the highest levels of confidence) than the national average (36.2%). Confidence in media was highest in Québec and lowest in Alberta.
In general, women in Nova Scotia had higher levels of confidence in institutions than did men. The exception was the school system, in which Nova Scotian women had lower levels of confidence than men.
Trends
Although high levels of confidence in police persist over time in Nova Scotia, the portion of respondents reporting the lowest levels of confidence in police increased in Q4 2024.
Confidence in the justice system and courts increased in Nova Scotia in Q4 2024.
The portion of Nova Scotians with the highest levels of confidence in the school system has been falling, but this partially reversed in Q4 2024.
The portion of Nova Scotians indicating lower levels of confidence in the Federal Parliament increased in the last quarter of 2023. Nova Scotians' confidence in Federal Parliament improved later in 2024.
Although lower than for other institutions like police, justice and the courts, Nova Scotians' confidence in Canadian media has been rising.
Source: Statistics Canada. Table 45-10-0073-01 Confidence in institutions, by gender and province
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