Heading into election year, cost of living still dominates voter priorities – National

Canadians preparing to head to the polls in the new year are likely to be voting with their wallets.

Cost-of-living issues continue to dominate the list of priorities for Canadians, according to the findings of new Ipsos polling conducted exclusively for Global News.

The results of the poll, published Friday, found that one in four respondents ranked inflation and the cost of living as their top priority in Canada today, up five percentage points from a year earlier.

While health care took the second spot (17 per cent, up three points from last year), other pocketbook issues dominated the rest of the list, according to Ipsos.

Housing availability and affordability (14 per cent) rounded out the top three, followed by immigration (seven per cent), and the economy, unemployment and jobs (also seven per cent). Taxes, poverty and social inequality and government debt all followed at five per cent.

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The polling, conducted from Dec. 6 to 10, surveyed more than 1,000 Canadians aged 18 and older in an online forum.

While inflation has appeared largely well-behaved in 2024 and the Bank of Canada has rapidly lowered its benchmark interest rate since mid-year, that relief came after years of rapid hikes in the cost of living.

“The scars of inflation are still there,” Sean Simpson, senior vice-president at Ipsos Global Affairs, tells Global News.

“If people couldn’t afford their groceries last year, what leads us to believe that they are better able to afford them this year? The answer is they cannot. And so that continues to be the number one issue in Canada.”

Young Canadians are particularly feeling the pinch heading into 2025, Simpson notes. The youngest generations are the most likely to lack a pension, struggle to find a job or be unable to break into the housing market, he points out.

Affordability anxiety is particularly acute in Canada compared with peer countries, Simpson says, with Canadians among the top five globally for their concerns around affordability for the second year in a row.

It’s particularly telling that affordability knocks health care to the second spot, he adds. In more…