MONTREAL -- Almost one year into the COVID-19 pandemic, nearly half of all Canadians say they personally know someone who has been infected with the virus.

That's up from just one out of four Canadians saying they knew someone who had had the virus in May, according to a new survey by the Association for Canadian Studies.

Quebecers are the most likely to have known someone diagnosed with COVID-19, with 59 per cent saying they knew someone personally who had the virus, up from 34 per cent in May.

Of those, 48 per cent said the person had been a family member, 38 per cent said a friend and 20 per cent said a coworker.

Alberta was a close second to Quebec, with 58 per cent saying they knew someone who had had the virus, up from 17 per cent in May. Only 23 per cent of people in the Atlantic provinces said the same, an increase of only one per cent from May. 

Canadians between the ages of 18 and 34 were the demographic most likely to have known someone with the virus, with 61 per cent, while those age 55 and older were the least likely, with 59 per cent saying they did not know anyone who had had the virus.

According to the survey, knowing someone who had the virus did not affect how afraid a Canadian was of getting it themself. Just over 57 per cent of those who did know someone with the virus said they were at least somewhat afraid of getting it while almost 62 per cent of people who did not know anyone personally said they were at least somewhat afraid.

The data was collected via web panel conducted by Leger in partnership with the ACS between Jan. 15 and Jan. 17, 2021 using a sample of 1,516 Canadians. According to the ACS, no margin of error can be associated with a non-probability sample, but a comparitive national sample would have a margin of error of +/- 2.5 per cent, 19 times out of 20.