How psychological manipulation dressed as public health reshaped opinion in Canada.

By Lisa Peryman for Probe International

A disturbing new report reveals the government of Canada has been experimenting with Canadians’ public behavior and thought through covert social psychology mechanisms for more than a decade.

The report released this month by the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms (JCCF) charges the government-embedded Impact and Innovation Unit (IIU) with employing behavioral manipulation techniques, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, to undermine trust and democracy.

Modeled after the U.K.’s controversial Behavioral Insights Team (BIT), IIU likewise applies behavioral science—particularly “nudge” theory—to public policy. Designed by Nobel Prize-winning economist Richard Thaler and Harvard legal scholar Cass Sunstein, nudge theory leverages “choice architecture” to direct target groups towards certain options and outcomes through small changes in presentation, framing, placement and order, as well as other tactics.

This theory, asserts JCCF, was employed aggressively by Ottawa’s IIU unit during the COVID-19 pandemic to nudge Canadians towards 70% vaccination through fear-alleviating framing, “Kitchen Sink” message bombardment, and the deliberate downplaying of adverse events.

Established in 2015 and housed within Canada’s Privy Council Office (PCO), IIU is the government’s central hub for policy innovation. With a mandate broader than that of the U.K.’s BIT—now a wholly-owned subsidiary of the U.K.-based innovation agency Nesta—the IIU’s focus deepened towards measuring and scaling program impacts after a 2017 rebranding. The IIU encompasses not just behavioral nudges but also financing, partnerships, and impact measurement tools under initiatives like Ottawa’s behavioral science-infused Impact Canada.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the JCCF report notes the IIU’s role skyrocketed. Tasked with helping Ottawa to achieve a 70% vaccination rate, the IIU utilized behavioral science research and message testing to engineer a national communications strategy. JCCF documents how this approach prioritized manipulating public perception over fostering informed decision-making, frequently promoting mRNA vaccines as “safe and effective” even before adequate data was available, while downplaying reports of adverse reactions.

IIU’s tactics included harnessing data from sources like the World Health Organization’s COVID-19 Snapshot Monitoring Study to craft messaging strategies aimed at alleviating fears about vaccine safety. Their methods also drew on “gist framing” to downplay adverse events and “risk communication framing” to provide reassuring statistics.

A sweeping messaging strategy, dubbed the “Kitchen Sink Message Frame,” ultimately proved the most effective way to quell public concerns and drive acceptance of Ottawa’s vaccine push. This involved “throwing everything at the public at once”—combining several evidence-based framing techniques simultaneously to maximize impact. The goal was to proactively mitigate public anxiety over reported adverse events following immunization (AEFIs), bolster confidence in COVID-19 vaccines, and drive vaccination uptake toward Ottawa’s 70% threshold for herd immunity.

Rather than address concerns head-on about the safety of mRNA vaccines, the IIU was mobilized to support the Trudeau administration’s narrative during a time of increasing distrust towards the federal government and public anxiety over adverse effects.

The IIU strategy, however, diverges from traditional democratic practices, where elected officials engage in open debate and public discourse to advocate for policies.

The JCCF report highlights a concerning trend in Canada where elected leaders, rather than reflect the will of the people and govern individuals as they are, are reshaping citizens to align with ideological goals.

For the full report, authored by veteran journalist and researcher Nigel Hannaford, see the publisher’s website here.

Related Viewing

The Natasha Montreal Podcast: John Carpay, head of the Justice Center for Constitutional Freedoms, discusses the Trudeau government’s use of behavioral science to influence public compliance during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Impact and Innovation Unit (IIU) in Ottawa, composed of behavioral scientists, was instrumental in crafting messaging to encourage Canadians to get vaccinated, he says, even before the vaccines had completed safety testing. This messaging was designed to “nudge” citizens towards compliance with government mandates, including lockdowns and vaccine passports.

Carpay highlighted how the messaging employed by government officials, including Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and various provincial leaders, was remarkably uniform and strategically crafted to evoke a sense of urgency and sacrifice, likening the pandemic response to a wartime effort. This approach aimed to foster a spirit of self-sacrifice among Canadians, making them more likely to accept significant restrictions on their freedoms, such as the right to assemble and bodily autonomy.

He points out that this manipulation of public sentiment was not merely about providing information but a deliberate effort to change behavior and ensure compliance with policies that many considered unscientific and harmful. Carpay argued that framing the pandemic as a war created an environment where dissenters were viewed as traitors, further pressuring individuals to conform to government directives.

The conversation also touches on the government’s strategic use of opt-out strategies for vaccination, which positioned vaccination as the default choice, thereby minimizing individual agency.