OTTAWA - A new poll suggests almost two-thirds of Canadians would support imposition of a nightly curfew if necessary to curb the spread of COVID-19 - even though they're not convinced it would be effective.

Sixty-five per cent of respondents said they would support a temporary curfew in their province if recommended by public health officials.

In Quebec, where the government imposed a month-long curfew 10 days ago, 74 per cent said they support the move.

Nevertheless, only 57 per cent of Quebecers and just 39 per cent of respondents in the rest of the country said they think curfews are an effective way to reduce the spread of the coronavirus that causes COVID-19.

The poll, conducted Jan. 15 to 18 by Leger and the Association for Canadian Studies, also suggests that Canadians' mental health has suffered as the pandemic drags on; it registered an eight-point rise since last April in the number of respondents who rate their mental health as bad or very bad.

The online poll of 1,516 Canadians cannot be assigned a margin of error because internet-based polls are not considered random samples.