Trust in neighbors, my People, ‘other’ people and people in general: East Coast more trusting than the West Coast

In the United States persons under generally persons under 30 are generally regarded as less trusting of other people and institutions. A survey conducted by Leger for the Association for Canadian Studies confirms that younger Canadians are generally less trusting than older persons. But the study also confirms that education, higher income and geographic proximity are drivers of higher overall trust. Atlantic Canadians are most trusting while British Columbians least so when it comes to trust of people in general. Harvard political scientist Robert Putnam has argues that trust, or "social capital," is essential for a healthy and functioning democracy. Low public trust implies weaker social connections and civic engagement. When people trust each other and their institutions, they are more likely to listen, collaborate, and care. Putnam also distinguishes between trust within one’s own ethnic group and trust outside the group as respectively contributing to bonding and bridging forms or expressions of social capital and suggests that bridging is more important in strengthening the democratic fabric. Overall ethnic minorities are most trusting of persons that share their same ethnic background but are not less trusting than others of people in general. Hence contrary to Putnam’s long held theory not all trust operates vertically as a sort of zero sum equation, rather it is often more horizontal with ‘trusting persons’ being generally more trusting across a spectrum of peoples. The survey was conducted by Leger for the Association for Canadian Studies with 1527 respondents in Canada over the period October 29-31, 2025.