Ipsos poll reveals the news Canadians watched and worried about in 2025

From Washington to war zones, Canadians say the U.S. shaped nearly every major story they followed this year.

Affordability and health care topped the list of Canadians’ top issues in 2025, while the decline of the Canada–U.S. relationship dominated the year’s biggest news stories for Canadians, according to new polling conducted by Ipsos on behalf of Global News.

“Affordability ranked number one on the issues Canadians focused most on this past year, overwhelmingly,” Ipsos Public Affairs CEO Darrell Bricker told Global in an interview, followed closely by health care, “and not because Canadians are happy about it,” he said.

Forty-one per cent of those polled said affordability and the cost of living were the most important issue in Canada, followed by health care at 38 per cent.

The economy (28 per cent) and housing (27 per cent) followed as the next most important issues, underscoring what Bricker described as persistent anxiety about household finances and access to basic services.

Bricker said the findings show the pressures of affordability and housing are felt most acutely by younger Canadians.

The poll suggests a closely divided political landscape, with the Liberals and Conservatives each seen as strongest on five of the top 10 issues. Conservatives held a slight advantage on affordability-related concerns, while Liberals were viewed more favourably on health care and the economy.

“Usually what you find is the party that wins the election is the one that’s seen as doing the best job on the most important issue,” Bricker said. “Interestingly, in the last election, that wasn’t the case. The issue of affordability was at the top of the list and the Conservatives were leading on that, but the Liberals ended up winning.”

While affordability topped the list, Bricker said the Liberals benefited from a commanding lead on managing relations with the United States — an issue where they remain far ahead of the Conservatives. Canada’s relationship with its southern neighbour, he said, continues to outweigh even affordability concerns for many voters.