The survey included open-ended and general questions about the AIDS virus and AIDS prevention, including about 15 questions dealing with various aspects of public policy on AIDS. Responses indicated that knowledge about AIDS and HIV infection was relatively high. Most Canadians were able to describe AIDS and knew how the virus was transmitted. Respondents also had relatively tolerant attitudes; there was strong support for legal sanctions to prevent discrimination in employment and housing and majority support for anonymous testing to detect HIV infection. Policy arguments phrased in terms of the authority of the medical profession or portraying authoritarian measures as being necessary to prevent infection, however, resulted in much more conservative responses. Regression analysis showed that people whose knowledge about AIDS was greater were not more likely to have tolerant attitudes, but that having more tolerant attitudes led people to become more knowledgeable. Attitudes toward AIDS were strongly correlated with general views about civil liberties and about gays and lesbians. Behavior involving risk of infection was not correlated with knowledge or attitudes. 14 references, 15 notes, and 7 tables