A new poll suggests that while Ontario voters are seeing a rising cost of living, health care remains a top priority as they prepare to vote.
The latest Nanos Research survey conducted for CP24 and CTV News finds that 89% of respondents said investing in healthcare is a top priority for the next government, regardless of who is elected.
With 80 per cent, the next issue considered important by voters is to help Ontario residents manage the rising cost of living. The environment was then protected (78%), promoting a stronger economy (77%) and helping to make housing more affordable (71%).
About 65% of respondents indicated tax control as important, while 58% said fighting crime is a top priority.
These priorities were roughly similar for voters in the GTA and the rest of Ontario.
However, younger voters (ages 18-34) listed managing the rising cost of living as a little more important than investing in health care.
The hybrid online and telephone poll gathered responses from 501 Ontario voters between May 28 and May 31. The margin of error for a survey of this size is about 4.4 percentage points, 19 times 20.
The results indicate that after more than two years of living with a global pandemic, voters are becoming more aware of the need to maintain a robust health care system.
In addition to tackling COVID-19, the health care system has been strained in recent years by the backlog of services resulting from the pandemic, as well as by the increased demand for mental health services.
Recent Nanos polls show that over the last month of the campaign, health care has consistently remained in the main minds of Ontario voters.
When asked without asking what the most important provincial concern is, 24 percent of respondents in the last survey cited health care. This has been down slightly since the start of the campaign. In a survey published on May 2, 26.6% listed health care as the most important issue.
But it still has a considerable advantage over the next closest issue, which is the cost of living / inflation (17.1% in the last survey compared to 11.9% on May 2).
Voters will go to the polls on June 2.
Methodology
Nanos conducted a two-frame RDD (landline and mobile line) hybrid online and landline random survey of 501 Ontario residents aged 18 and over between May 28 and 31, 2022 as part of a follow-up survey. Participants were randomly recruited by telephone through live agents and administered online survey. The results were statistically verified and weighted by age and gender using the most recent census information and the sample is geographically stratified to be representative of Ontario.
People were called randomly by randomly dialing digits with up to five callbacks. The margin of error of a random survey of 501 Ontario residents is 4.4 percentage points, 19 times 20.
The investigation was commissioned by CTV News and CP24.