“While individual Canadians are sorting out what this all means for their own personal lives, a new poll came out this week, framing the new normal in the bigger picture. Earnscliffe Insights surveyed nearly 2,000 people about what this pandemic has done to change Canadians’ lives, in the short term and long term.

No surprise, there is near unanimity — 96 per cent — saying that the pandemic has had some impact on their lives.

A fascinating division emerges, though, when people were asked about what they wanted life to look like when this pandemic is over. About 58 per cent of respondents said they “just want everything to go back to the way it was.” But 72 per cent also said that the pandemic is an opportunity to make some “major changes to Canadian society.””