Canadians On Healthcare

Toronto, ON - A new Ipsos-Reid survey conducted on behalf of the Canadian Federation of Nurses Unions finds that a majority of Canadians agree with each of six possible things which could help solve issues of waiting times and nursing shortages in Canada's Healthcare system.

Specifically, for waiting times:

• 93% agree with hiring more nurses to reduce waiting times.

And, for recruiting and retaining nurses:

• 91% agree with providing Government programs for the most experienced nurses to mentor new nurses,
• 88% agree with making grants and loans more available to all nursing students who demonstrate the financial need,
• 84% agree with providing incentives for staying on the job to the most experienced nurses,
• 80% agree with providing Government programs to allow nurses to phase-in their retirement, and
• 50% agree with eliminating tuition for nursing school, with governments paying the amount.

In addition, when asked whether or not they support or oppose six possible ways that the government could pay for programs which could address the current nursing shortage in Canada, large majorities would support two and half would support another two.

Large majorities say they would support "using any available surplus revenues" (73%) and "raising taxes on the top 10% of income earners" (67%); and half indicate that they support the possibility of "eliminating tax cuts for major corporations" (52%) and "temporarily reducing Canada's payment on the debt" (49%).

One-third (34%) say they would support "diverting government revenue from programs such as higher education, defense, and child care," and two in ten (22%) would support "raising taxes on all income earners."

When it comes to possible things that could help solve issues of pharmaceuticals and Pharmacare in Canada's Healthcare system, majorities agree with each of the three possibilities measured:

• 80% agree with centralizing prescription drug purchasing nationally if it would save taxpayers,
• 71% agree with developing a Canada-wide government financed Pharmacare program, and
• 62% agree with increasing personal taxes by about fifty dollars a year to eliminate for everyone up-front costs for prescription drugs and to provide prescription drug coverage to everyone.

Finally, Canadians were asked which of a list of nine groups they think policy-makers should give top priority to in making health care policy--"organizations representing nurses" (39%), "organizations representing doctors" (38%), and "Provincial Ministers of Health" (37%) top the list.

These are the findings of an Ipsos-Reid/Canadian Federation of Nurses Unions poll conducted from May 17th to May 19th, 2005. For the survey, a representative randomly selected sample of 1001 adult Canadians was interviewed by telephone. With a sample of this size, the results are considered accurate to within 1773.1 percentage points, 19 times out of 20, of what they would have been had the entire adult Canadian population been polled. The margin of error will be larger within regions and for other sub-groupings of the survey population. These data were weighted to ensure the sample's regional and age/sex composition reflects that of the actual Canadian population according to the 2001 Census data.

Please open attached files to view full press release and detailed tables.

For more information on this news release, please contact:
Jennifer McLeod
Senior Research Manager
Ipsos-Reid
416.324.2900
[email protected]

Ipsos-Reid
Ipsos-Reid is Canada's market intelligence leader and the country's leading provider of public opinion research. With operations in eight cities, Ipsos-Reid employs more than 300 researcher professionals and support staff in Canada. The company has the biggest network of telephone call centres in Canada, as well as the largest pre-recruited household and on-line panels. Ipsos-Reid's Canadian marketing research and public affairs practices are staffed with seasoned research consultants with extensive industry-specific backgrounds, offering the premier suite of research vehicles in Canada--including the Ipsos Trend Report, the leading source of public opinion in the country--all of which provide clients with actionable and relevant information. Ipsos-Reid is an Ipsos company, a leading global survey-based market research group.

To learn more, please visit www.ipsos.ca.

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