Health Care and Job: Top Issues with Voters of Chinese Origin

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Vancouver’s municipal election is just few days away, and the 2015 Canada’s federal election is on its way. How likely will voters with Chinese origin cast ballots in these coming elections? What are the top issues that the Chinese community cares the most? Which candidates are they more familiar with? This report presents major findings from a poll conducted in October 2014. It sheds some light on responses by Chinese community in Vancouver region to these questions. The key findings include:

• Health care and job are the top Issues with voters of Chinese origin • Voter turnout of Chinese community is likely higher than ever • Two in five voters of Chinese origin have never casted a vote in Canada • Those who voted in a political party’s election before are more likely to cast their ballots • Gregor Robertson topped the list of familiarity

Method

Between the end of September and mid-October 2014, the North America Chinese Panel1 surveyed 245 participants who are of Chinese origin and reside in the great Vancouver region. The responses were collected through WeChat, website, email and printed questionnaires.

49% of respondents were from Richmond, followed by Vancouver (27%), Burnaby (14%), and 10% from the rest of the great Vancouver regions. The margin of error is estimated at plus or minus 5.4%, 18 out of 20 times.

Key Findings

Health Care and Job Top Issues with Voters of Chinese Origin

For years, many believe that housing, or more precisely affordable housing, is the number one issue for citizens living in the great Vancouver region. However, the results from the polling show that voters of Chinese origin are more concerned with health care and jobs over the housing issue.

Among a list of most popular topics in election campaigns, more than half of polled voters of Chinese origin considered health care the most important issue while near one in two focused on job as their top priority. Other important issues cited by polled voters included immigration policy, environment issues and children’s education (shown in Chart 1).

Surprisingly to some, housing issue and related real estate policy are less worrisome for voters of Chinese origin. This polling results show that only 3 in 10 cited housing and real estate policy as their priority concern. Issues such as government spending, gas price and crime, which are considered critical issues among the general public as frequently reported in the media, appeared less significant than the top five issues.

1 North America Chinese Panel is a Vancouver, BC based professional polling and market research agency focused on population with Chinese origin in North America. (www.chinese-panel.com)

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Voter Turnout Is Likely Higher Than Ever

In the past elections, voters of Chinese origin were perceived as one of the ethnic groups in Canada that have a low turnout to cast ballots. Nevertheless, this polling result shows a higher intention of Chinese community to cast a vote in the coming elections.

When asked “will you cast a vote in the municipal election 2014 or the federal election 2015?”, as high as 72% of respondents indicated either “definitely to vote” or “likely to vote” in the next election. An intention to vote is illustrated in Chart 2 below.

Breaking down by age groups, the Chinese community’s intention to vote varies significantly. It was reported that young and middle aged groups are more likely to cast to a vote than other senior groups. For group of 18-34 year old, 43% confirmed that they would definitely cast a vote, while only 25% said so in the group of 55 year olds.

44%!

45%!

47%!

48%!

56%!

Child’s  Educaton  

Environment  Issues  

Immigra6on  Policy  

Job  and  Employment  

Health  Care  

Chart 1: Top Five Issues for Voters of Chinese Origin (Oct. 2014)

Definitely to vote!54%!

Likely to vote!18%!

Maybe/ Undecided!

15%!

Unlikely to vote!7%!

Definitely not to vote!

6%!

Chart 2: Intention to Vote of Chinese Community (Oct. 2014)!

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Two in Five Voters Have Never Casted a Vote

Many voters with Chinese origin are relative new comers to Canada. Due to the difference of election systems between their original place of residence and Canada, these voters are unfamiliar to or have completely no experience at all with the Canadian democratic election system.

When asked “have you casted a vote in Canada’s federal, provincial or municipal elections in past five years?”, two in five (or 42%) of respondents reported that they had never voted in any of these elections. Less than half of polled voters said that they voted in federal or provincial elections in the past five years. An illustration of previous participation of voters with Chinese origin is shown in Chart 3.

Those Who Voted in a Party’s Election Are More Likely to Cast Ballots

Among respondents who said either “definitely to vote” or “likely to vote” in the next elections, the majority (71%) reported they had had experience of voting in a political party’s election. This suggests that individuals who have voted in a party’s election before are more likely to cast a vote in the coming elections.

13%!

34%!45%! 45%! 42%!

Voted in Party's Election!

Voted in Municipal Election!

Voted in Provincial Election!

Voted in Federal Election!

Never Voted!

Chart 3: Participation in Previous Elections by Voters of Chinese Origin (Oct. 2014)!

Note: This is a multiple-choice question and the sum is great than 100%!

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Gregor Robertson Topped the List of Familiarity The survey results show the familiarity of election candidates to voters with Chinese origin differs considerably. Among listed names of candidates in all levels of election, the current Vancouver Mayor, Mr. Gregor Robertson, topped the list, as high as 77% of respondents are aware of this name, followed by the present MP Alice Wong (62%), Ms. Wendy Yuan (59%), and current Mayor of Richmond, Mr. Malcolm Brodie (53%). The list is shown in Chart 5.

Conclusion

This report illustrates that the Chinese community in Vancouver are more concerned about healthcare and jobs, while they share some similar concerns with other population groups in the region. Unlike previous perceptions of low voter’s turnout of Chinese community, the survey results suggest a higher intention to vote this year. It also points out that a Chinese voter’s previous participation in Canada’s democratic system will increase his or her intention to cast a vote in coming elections.

71%!

36%! 28%! 33%! 38%!

Voted in Party's Election!

Voted in Municipal Election!

Voted in Provincial Election!

Voted in Federal Election!

Never Voted!

Chart 4: Intended Voters by Voting Experience!(Oct. 2014)!

Note:  This  is  a  mul6ple-­‐choice  ques6on  and  the  sum  is  great  than  100%  

53%  

59%  

62%  

77%  

Malcolm  Brodie  (⻢马保定)  

Wendy  Yuan  (袁薇)  

Alice  Wong  (黄陈小萍)  

Gregor  Robertson  (罗品信)  

Chart 5: Familarity to Voters with Chinese Origin (Oct. 2014)!