Jobs, economy top voters' priorities at the end of a turbulent 2025: Nanos poll
CBC
A year-end poll from Nanos suggests Canadians will want to see action from the Liberal government on major economic files in the new year.
Just over one in five respondents to the poll published this week said jobs and the economy were the most important national issues — more than double the 10 per cent who listed relations with the United States and President Donald Trump as their top priority.
Inflation, health care and immigration rounded out the top five concerns for Canadians.
A separate Nanos poll, also published this week, indicates consumer confidence is in a firmly neutral position heading into the new year.
For both polls, Nanos surveyed more than 1,000 people in the four weeks leading up to Dec. 26. The pollster cites a margin of error of plus or minus three percentage points, 19 times out of 20.
Chief data scientist Nik Nanos said the economy and U.S. relations jockeyed for top spot in voters' priorities throughout 2025.
While the jobs question took centre stage in the recent polling, he noted that the uncertainty clouding the trade relationship with the U.S. is also feeding into questions about how the Canadian economy will perform in 2026.
Nanos said consumers are downbeat about their personal finances, putting them in an "anxious holding pattern" heading into the new year.
What remains to be seen, he said, is whether that anxiety leads Canadians to put off major purchases, setting off a cycle that could hamper the economy next year.
"It's too early to tell. But I think right now, at least, it's a bit of a wait-and-see for many Canadians," Nanos said.
Prime Minister Mark Carney swept to power this year in the spring election in part by positioning himself as the person best equipped to handle Trump and the economic upheaval he has triggered.
In the months that followed the election, he set up new agencies to rapidly build housing and major projects, cut income taxes for most Canadians and deepened federal deficits to focus on capital investments.
While Carney's Liberal government secured an additional two seats before the end of 2025 through Conservative MPs crossing the floor, the party remains one seat shy of majority government status.
If the minority Liberal government is defeated in a confidence vote, that could trigger another federal election.
