As in many countries, Santa Claus enjoys a historically strong following in Canada. In fact, in December 2001, about a third (34%) of Canadian adults who celebrate Christmas claimed that they believe in Santa Claus*. This figure has remained relatively stable over the past five years.
Have Canadians always been so fond of jolly St. Nick? It appears they have, at least for the last half-century. In the late 1940s, Canadian Dr. Brock Chisholm, the federal deputy minister of health (who would go on to become one of the architects of the United Nations and first Director-General of the World Health Organization), earned the title of "the man who killed Santa Claus." Chisholm, known for being outspoken, stated in public that parents should not encourage their children to believe in Santa Claus as anything but a figure of myth or fable. The Canadian public responded with outrage followed by calls for his resignation, which went unheeded; he was appointed executive secretary of the WHO shortly thereafter.
Several years later in 1954**, Gallup polled Canadian adults on whether or not they believed it was harmful to tell children there is a Santa Claus. More than three-quarters (77%) said they did not think it was harmful, while only 14% agreed that it is was. These figures were similar when the question was asked again in 1964.
In the 1954 survey, respondents were asked why they held the views they did about whether or not it is harmful to tell children there is a Santa Claus. Eighteen percent of those who said that there is no harm in telling children there is a Santa Claus felt that way because children derive pleasure from it. Another common response was that Santa Claus is only imagination or make-believe (11%). Still other respondents felt that there are positive "spiritual and faith aspects" in children believing in the jolly old elf. Parents' own fond childhood memories of believing in Santa were mentioned by 6% as a reason why there is no harm in children being told there is a Santa.
The 14% of Canadian respondents in 1954 who said it is harmful to tell children there is a Santa Claus had their own reasons for feeling this way -- dishonesty was mentioned by 5%, while another 4% felt that it was upsetting to children in some way.
Key Points
Given the ongoing prominence of St. Nick with his white beard and red cap at Canadian Christmas celebrations, it appears that Chisholm was not successful in "killing Santa" half a century ago. Since a third of Canadian adults were willing to entertain the existence of Santa Claus in December 2001, one suspects that many of today's Canadian parents relish telling the tale of Santa to their children as much as their parents did for them a generation ago.
*These results are based on telephone interviews with a randomly selected national sample of 1004 Canadian adults, aged 18 and older, conducted Dec. 4-9, 2001. For results based on this sample, one can say with 95% confidence that the maximum error attributable to sampling and other random effects is ±3%.
**Released Dec. 22, 1954