Canadians Offer Mixed Reviews of Minister Freeland’s Economic Update, Noting Some Key Omissions in the Plan
Toronto, ON, November 19, 2022 – Canadians have offered mixed reviews of Finance Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland’s recent mid-year economic update and plan, according to a new Ipsos poll conducted on behalf of Global News.
Overall, Canadians are pleased to see new investments to support summer jobs, interest-free loans for students, an enhancement of Canada Workers Benefit and quicker approval of natural resource and energy projects, but they’re much less fond of some notable gaps in the plan, including no new investments in healthcare, no reduction in other program spending to reduce deficit, no windfall tax on corporations and no reduction or pause of the carbon tax, GST or the gas tax.
Beginning with the announcements that Canadians view as being a net positive development for Canada:
- Eight in ten (77%) say that an investment $800 million over three years to support summer jobs, an employment strategy for youth and job placements is a positive (18% very/60% somewhat) initiative, while only two in ten (23%) believe it is negative (5% very/18% somewhat).
- Three in four (73%) believe that an investment of $1.28 billion over six years and $55.4 million each year after that to speed up approval of natural resource and energy projects is a positive (16% very/57% somewhat) development for Canada, roughly one in four (27%) sees is as a net negative (8% very/19% somewhat).
- Seven in ten (70%) say that an investment of $2.7 billion over five years to make all Canada Student Loans and Canada Apprentice Loans permanently interest-free is positive (22% very/48% somewhat), but three in ten (30%) characterize it as negative (10% very/20% somewhat).
- Seven in ten (69%) believe that an investment of $4 billion over six years to issue advance payments of the Canada Workers Benefit to those who qualify is a positive (13% very/56% somewhat), while 31% see it as a negative (7% very/24% somewhat).
- Two in three (67%) maintain that the introduction of a refundable tax credit for businesses equal to 30 per cent of capital costs to encourage investments in non-carbon emitting energy, heating and energy storage projects, and zero-emission vehicles is a positive (13% very/54% somewhat) thing for Canada, while one in three (33%) believe it is negative (11% very/23% somewhat).
On the other hand, the conspicuous absence of other investments or financial relief casts a more negative light on the Minister’s announcement:
- Only two in ten (21%) think that no new investments in healthcare is a positive (5% very/15% somewhat) for Canada, while most (79%) view this omission negatively (50% very/30% somewhat).
- Three in ten (30%) see the fact that no savings or other efficiencies were identified in current government programs to help lower the amount of money being added to the debt as a positive (6% very/24% somewhat) thing, while most (70%) see it in a negative (25% very/45% somewhat) way.
- Only three in ten (31%) see no new money directed towards paying down the Government of Canada’s current debt as being positive (6% very/26% somewhat), while a majority (69%) believes the absence of such a policy is a negative (25% very/44% somewhat) for Canada.
- Just two in five (38%) believe that no reduction or pause on the carbon tax, GST or the gas tax is positive (9% very/29% somewhat) for Canada, while three in five (62%) see it as negative (28% very/34% somewhat).
- Just 40% believe that the absence of a windfall tax (tax on high profits) introduced on companies such as banks, the energy sector or grocers as a positive (10% very/30% somewhat) thing, while 60% believe it’s a net negative (26% very/33% somewhat) for Canada.
The data reveal some interesting demographic trends across the policy announcements. For example, men are more positive than women about the fact that there have been no new investments in healthcare (26% men vs. 15% women) or a reduction of taxes (43% men vs. 32%).
Regionally, residents of Saskatchewan and Manitoba (84%), Atlantic Canada (83%) and Quebec (82%) are more likely to say that a lack of investment in healthcare is a negative development for Canada compared to those living in Ontario (80%), BC (79%) and Alberta (68%). On the lack of initiatives to identify efficiencies in program spending to reduce the deficit, residents of Saskatchewan and Manitoba (78%), Atlantic Canadians (76%) and British Columbians (75%) are most inclined to call this bad news, while those in Quebec (72%), Ontario (69%) and Alberta (57%) are less likely to describe it this way. Atlantic Canadians (76%) are significantly more likely than everyone else to note that the omission of tax relief is a bad thing (vs. 62% Canadian average) for Canada.
Those aged 18-34 are more likely than those aged 35-54 and 55+ to think it’s a positive that no new investments have been made in healthcare, that no money is being directed towards debt reduction, that there is no reduction in GST, carbon or gas taxes for Canadians, or that there is no windfall tax on excessive profits. However, they’re equally as likely as older generations to be supportive of the new investments that are being made in various areas.
About the Study
These are some of the findings of an Ipsos poll conducted between November 11 and 14, 2022, on behalf of Global News. For this survey, a sample of 1,005 Canadians aged 18+ was interviewed. Quotas and weighting were employed to ensure that the sample’s composition reflects that of the Canadian population according to census parameters. The precision of Ipsos online polls is measured using a credibility interval. In this case, the poll is accurate to within ± 3.5 percentage points, 19 times out of 20, had all Canadians aged 18+ been polled. The credibility interval will be wider among subsets of the population. All sample surveys and polls may be subject to other sources of error, including, but not limited to coverage error, and measurement error.
For more information on this news release, please contact:
Darrell Bricker, PhD
CEO, Ipsos Public Affairs
+1 416 324 2001
[email protected]
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