Canadians are increasingly skeptical of the CBC and other mainstream news outlets, with federal research finding many believe media organizations report the news with an “angle or agenda” and a “particular political slant.”Blacklock's Reporter says the research also found some Canadians are turning to Reddit, YouTube and podcasts rather than relying on television networks and newspapers for news and information.“Participants across all groups demonstrated significant skepticism toward individual sources of news and current affairs, emphasizing the importance of cross-referencing multiple sources,” said a March 18 report released Saturday.The findings came from 14 focus groups commissioned by the Department of Immigration. The department spent $119,802 on research conducted by Toronto-based pollster Ipsos.Traditional outlets including CBC, CTV and major newspapers remained relevant to some participants who valued professional journalism and “rigorous fact checking,” according to the 2026 IRCC Annual Tracking Focus Groups Final Report.However, even participants who relied on traditional media said it was important to be “wary of who it’s coming from and what is the kind of angle or agenda.”Social media played a major role in how participants discovered news, with researchers saying many consumed information passively while scrolling through their feeds.Trust in those platforms varied significantly.Some participants placed greater confidence in information posted by government agencies or established media organizations. Others who distrusted official sources preferred user-generated material on Reddit as well as selected YouTube channels and podcasts.“Honestly, most of the time I will go to Reddit to see what people are saying,” one participant told researchers.Another said widespread agreement among users could make information appear more credible.“When a majority of peers are saying the same thing and talking about it, it has to have some truth to it,” the participant said..The federal government itself was generally not spontaneously identified as a source Canadians used to discover news or learn about current events.Instead, participants said they were more likely to consult government sources when looking for additional information about a particular subject.Statistics Canada was viewed by many as an authoritative source providing information directly “from the horse’s mouth.”But researchers found others were skeptical of government information and believed it could contain political messaging.“The credibility, I think, got really shaky for me and a lot of Canadians I’ve spoken to,” one participant said while describing the difficulty of sorting through misinformation.The report said a few participants had increasingly turned to official government sources because of concerns about misinformation circulating on social media.Others remained wary.“Others meanwhile approached government sources critically, conscious that information may be presented with a particular political slant similar to traditional media outlets,” researchers wrote.A small number of participants expressed strong distrust of government sources, which researchers said was often accompanied by dissatisfaction with the federal government’s record in recent years.The findings follow Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission research published in 2024 that found only about one-third of Canadians considered news media balanced, nonpartisan and trustworthy.“Canadians’ impressions of the quality, variety and depth of content as well as trust in media are relatively weak,” said the CRTC’s Public Opinion Research Tracker.The regulator found 36% of Canadians agreed they trusted information provided by Canadian news media.Another 36% agreed news programming offered a variety of perspectives, while 37% said they were satisfied with the quality of information and analysis provided by Canadian news organizations.
