Most Canadians favour return of death penalty for murderers, poll finds

The execution chamber at the Texas Department of Criminal Justice Huntsville Unit in Huntsville, Texas. Photo by Paul BUCK /AFP/Getty Images

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A growing number of Canadians say they support the return of the death penalty in this country for convicted murderers, a new poll has found, although that percentage drops when people are given the opportunity to choose life imprisonment with no chance of parole.

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Data from Research Co., a Vancouver-based market research and public opinion polling firm, found that 60 per cent of Canadians said they would support reinstating the death penalty for murder in Canada, a six-point increase compared to when the same question was asked in February 2025. A further 30 per cent said they were opposed (a two-point drop), while 10 per cent were unsure.

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Omitting the undecided respondents leaves Canadians in favour by a two-to-one margin. When the firm began tracking perceptions of Canadians on the death penalty in 2020, it found that 51 per cent of citizens expressed a desire to bring back capital punishment for murder cases.

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Canada abolished the death penalty in 1976, although the last execution in Canada was the double hanging of Arthur Lucas and Ronald Turpin in 1962, for the murder of a police informant and a police officer, respectively.

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A separate question asked: “All things considered, which of these two approaches would you prefer as a punishment for convicted murderers in Canada? Life imprisonment without the possibility of parole (or) the death penalty?”

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With the possibility of no parole on the table, the percentage in favour of the death penalty dropped to 49 per cent, while those choosing life imprisonment stood at 39 per cent, with the remaining 12 per cent undecided.

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When those in favour were asked why they supported reinstating the death penalty for murder in Canada, more than half (56 per cent) said that a convicted murderer has taken a life, so the death penalty fits the crime.

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Additionally, 52 per cent agreed that the death penalty would serve as a deterrent for potential murderers, while 49 per cent said the death penalty would provide closure to the families of murder victims. (Multiple responses means the total is more than 100 per cent.)

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There was also support for the idea that the death penalty would save taxpayers the cost of having murderers in prison (46 per cent) and the notion that murderers cannot be rehabilitated (31 per cent).

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For those in opposition to the death penalty, the top reason chosen (66 per cent of respondents) was that a person may be wrongly convicted and then executed.

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Other reasons given were that murderers should do their time in prison, as indicated by a judge (49 per cent), that the death penalty would not serve as a deterrent for potential murderers (39 per cent), that it’s wrong to take a murderer’s life as punishment (35 per cent) and that murderers can be rehabilitated (18 per cent).

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Regionally, Quebecers were least likely to favour a return to capital punishment (50 per cent), followed by Atlantic Canadians (55 per cent), Ontarians (62 per cent), Albertans (65 per cent) and then those in B.C., Saskatchewan and Manitoba (67 per cent).