As Premiers Meet With Prime Minister,
Most Canadians (84%) Say Economy In
Good Shape For Now

Toronto, ON - On the heels of a meeting between the provincial premiers and the Prime Minister at his 24 Sussex residence, a new Ipsos Reid poll conducted exclusively for CanWest News Service and Global Television finds that most Canadians (84%) describe the state of the economy right now as being either `good' (67%) or `very good' (17%). On the other hand, some say the state of the economy is `poor' (13%) or `very poor' (2%). However, looking ahead to the future, two thirds (63%) of Canadians are predicting an economic slowdown.

Tracking these results every few months over the last decade reveals that Canadians' assessment of the economy is virtually the highest it has ever been, second only to August of last year when 87% of Canadians gave the economy an assessment of at least `good' compared to 84% today. Despite the relatively rosy assessment that Canadians are currently giving the economy, their outlook for the future is a little less optimistic. In fact, one quarter (24%) of Canadians think that the economy will worsen over the next year or so, up from the 19% of Canadians who, last August, believed the same. Slightly fewer (23%) Canadians now believe the economy will improve (down from 25% in August).

The net score (difference between those who believe the economy will increase and those who think it will worsen) was +6 in August of 2007, while the net score in January of 2008 is now -1, meaning that slightly more Canadians now think the economy will worsen than will improve. This is the first negative score since September of 2005, and only the second since March of 1996.

Thinking about the possibility of an economic slowdown for the year 2008, just one quarter (24%) are of the opinion that the economy will `continue to grow as it has in recent years', while the majority (63%) thinks that it will `slow down but continue to have some growth'. Only one in ten (11%) Canadians believe that Canada will be thrown into a recession sometime this year.

Turning now to the possibility of losing their job or being laid off, 15% believe that they, or someone in their household, are worried about this possibility. This is up slightly from August of 2007 (14%), but is still below the proportion of individuals who felt that their job was in jeopardy prior to 2007.

These are the findings of an Ipsos Reid poll conducted on behalf of CanWest News Service and Global Television from January 8 to January 10, 2008. For the survey, a representative randomly selected sample of 1005 adult Canadians was interviewed by telephone. With a sample of this size, the results are considered accurate to within 177 3.1 percentage points, 19 times out of 20, of what they would have been had the entire adult population of Canada 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 that the sample's regional and age/sex composition reflects that of the actual Canadian population according to Census data.

Canadians Across The Country Don't Agree On Condition Of Economy...

The data reveals that some Canadians are not as cheerful in their assessment of the economy as others are. Below are some interesting demographic comparisons:

• Albertans (94%) are the most likely to give the economy a good assessment, followed by those living in Saskatchewan and Manitoba (92%), British Columbia (87%), Atlantic Canada (84%), Ontario (83%) and Quebec (79%).
• However, Albertans (30%) are also the most likely to believe that the economy will worsen over the next year or so, followed by residents of Ontario (29%), British Columbia (22%), Saskatchewan and Manitoba (21%), Quebec (19%) and Atlantic Canada (18%).
• Ontarians (12%), Albertans (12%), Quebecers (11%) and residents of Atlantic Canada (11%) are more likely than those living in British Columbia (9%) or Saskatchewan and Manitoba (8%) to believe that Canada will enter into a recession in 2008.
• Ontarians (70%) are most likely to believe that there will be an economic slowdown but that the economy will continue to have some growth, followed by residents of Quebec (64%), Saskatchewan and Manitoba (59%), Alberta (57%), British Columbia (54%) and Atlantic Canada (52%).
• Atlantic Canadians (25%) are the most likely to say that they, or someone in their household, is worried about being laid off or losing their job, followed by Ontarians (18%), British Columbians (13%), Quebecers (13%), Albertans (10%), and finally those living in Saskatchewan and Manitoba (7%).

For more information on this news release, please contact:
Dr. Darrell Bricker
President & COO
Ipsos Reid
Public Affairs
(416) 324-2001
[email protected]

About Ipsos Reid
Ipsos Reid is Canada's market intelligence leader, the country's leading provider of public opinion research, and research partner for loyalty and forecasting and modelling insights. With operations in eight cities, Ipsos Reid employs more than 600 research professionals and support staff in Canada. The company has the biggest network of telephone call centres in the country, as well as the largest pre-recruited household and online panels. Ipsos Reid's marketing research and public affairs practices offer the premier suite of research vehicles in Canada, all of which provide clients with actionable and relevant information. Staffed with seasoned research consultants with extensive industry-specific backgrounds, Ipsos Reid offers syndicated information or custom solutions across key sectors of the Canadian economy, including consumer packaged goods, financial services, automotive, retail, and technology & telecommunications. 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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