'Canadians are buckling up for the worst': Jobs, economy concerns catching up to health care in Nanos tracking

Trend Line: New Nanos Research issues tracking Trend Line's Michael Stittle and Nik Nanos break downt the latest issues tracking data from Nanos Research.

Concern over jobs and the economy is closing in on health care as the top issue on Canadians' minds, according to weekly national tracking by Nanos Research.

Health care began trending steadily up as the number one issue for Canadians beginning in the fall of 2022, before rising dramatically as winter arrived and hospital rooms were buckling under the strain of flu, RSV and COVID-19 cases. In late November, it hit a two-year high on Nanos' weekly issues tracking.

But that trend started to reverse in late February, while concern over jobs and the economy began a steady ascent.

Health care is still the top national issue of concern at 16 per cent as of the latest available tracking, but it's down four points over the previous four weeks. Jobs and the economy have risen two points to 14 per cent, within the margin of error.

Other issues related to the economy that Canadians said they're concerned about are inflation, the debt and deficit, and the cost of housing.

"It adds up to about three out of every 10 Canadians focused on meat and potatoes issues, directly related to their pocketbook or to the economy," said Nanos on the latest episode of CTV News Trend Line. "So what we're seeing right now, at least in 2023, is a move away from issues like health care and now a greater focus on those economic issues."

Nanos added that his weekly consumer confidence tracking for Bloomberg News showed that while it’s moving from negative towards neutral, Canadians' concerns about where the economy is headed are still in net negative territory.

"The reality is Canadians are still worried about paying the rent. They're still worried about paying for groceries," said Nanos.

"So there's a significant level of grumpiness right now and uncertainty related to the economy, and we don't know really what's going to happen in 2023."

The unemployment rate is holding steady at near record lows at five per cent, according to the latest labour force survey.

But despite this news indicating the job market is solid, economists are forecasting a slowdown in the economy this year due to the Bank of Canada's aggressive rate hikes which they believe will weigh on the economy.

Economists' predictions on a Canadian recession range from "severe" in the first quarter of 2023 to "mild" over the middle quarters.

"Canadians are buckling up for the worst," said Nanos.

Watch the full episode of Trend Line in our video player at the top of this article. You can also listen in our audio player below, or wherever you get your podcasts. The next episode comes out Wednesday, April 26.