As the federal government prepares to release budget Canadians who expect to see major new investment and spending along with higher deficits say they are most concerned about measures to reduce the cost of living, according to a new survey.
Interview them The survey, conducted exclusively for Global News, found that 42 percent of respondents want the budget to be tabled in Parliament on Tuesday to prioritize helping cover the rising cost of everyday expenses.
This number far exceeds the Prime Minister. Mark Carney stated priorities for transforming the Canadian economy, including investments in the Canadian military and national defense (15 percent), funding for major projects and infrastructure (15 percent), and even measures to mitigate the impact of US tariffs (25 percent).
At the same time, three in five Canadians surveyed by Ipsos said the cost of living and inflation have worsened because the government is spending too much – just as Carney argues Canada needs to spend even more, talking about “sacrifices.”
“The prime minister may have the right answers about what needs to be done for Canada's future, especially in this very difficult moment that we're in, but he hasn't rallied Canadians at this point—at least as we see in the data—on what those specific things are,” Ipsos chief communications officer Darrell Bricker said in an interview.
“If it's something that makes life difficult on a day-to-day basis, it doesn't really matter what you want to spend it on. Canadians aren't interested in that.”
Indeed, the poll shows that 69 per cent of Canadians are “concerned” that the government won't do enough to help them in the coming years. Among younger audiences, that number rose to more than 70 percent.
In a speech to students at the University of Ottawa last month. As a preview of his economic priorities in the upcoming budget, Carney outlined affordability measures such as increased housing construction, more apprenticeships and tax filing assistance for low-income Canadians.
But he has largely focused on efforts to rapidly expand domestic infrastructure and trade deals with international allies to double exports outside the United States in response to U.S. President Donald Trump's tariffs, which he says will boost the economy and government revenues.
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“We will not transform our economy easily or in a few months,” he said in his speech. “It will take some sacrifice and time.”
An Ipsos poll found Canadians are still reeling from years of high inflation, even though the inflation rate remained within target range in recent months but rose slightly in September.
When presented with a list of what they blame for the rising cost of living, 62 percent of respondents chose inflation, 52 percent said Trump tariffs, and 36 percent said too much government spending.
“You can't tell Canadians for two years that inflation is the biggest economic problem and then have them suddenly agree and say it's not a problem anymore,” Bricker said.
“For Canadians, inflation is essentially an alternative way of saying it's hard for them to survive. So they don't talk about what appears in government reports.”
Canadians also expressed frustration with the ongoing federal budget deficit, with 69 percent saying it was important to balance the budget and only 27 percent expressing support for deficit spending as “business as usual.”
The interim parliamentary budget officer and outside economists are forecasting Tuesday's budget deficit will exceed expectations set in the final months of the Trudeau government.
Ipsos found that just over half of Canadians surveyed would support short-term deficit spending in the current economic climate, and even more said additional spending would be justified on programs that help their daily lives.
These included support for increased spending on health care (80 per cent) and new housing (63 per cent), while issues such as national defense and funding for more RCMP and Border Patrol officers received less support.
While just over half of respondents said they would support deficit spending to ease the housing crisis, less than half said the same about funding large infrastructure projects.
“Canadians still have high expectations for the government (in terms of services) and the impact they will have on the cost of living, but they also expect the government to act within its means,” Bricker said.
“The argument that the government will make is that they are making investments because of the problems we face in the country today, and so Canadians need to sacrifice themselves by allowing larger deficits… but right now Canadians are saying, 'I don't see that.'
Many of the survey responses reflect criticism from opposition parties, who have signaled they may not support the budget in parliament.
A vote to reject the budget could trigger an election just over six months after Canadians elect Carney's Liberals.
Bricker said he doubts an election will be triggered this year, suggesting it would not be in the best interests of either party. However, he also sees warning signs for the government in the survey results.
“I think there's an assumption in government that everyone is behind them (their economic program), but you don't really see that,” he said.
These are some of the findings from an Ipsos poll conducted October 25-27, 2025, on behalf of Global News. For this survey, a sample of 1,000 Canadians aged 18+ was interviewed online. Quotas and weighting were used to ensure that the composition of the sample reflected the composition of the Canadian population according to census parameters. The accuracy of Ipsos online polls is measured using a confidence interval. In this case, the poll's accuracy is ±3.8 percentage points 19 times out of 20 if all Canadians aged 18+ were surveyed. The confidence interval will be wider among subgroups of the population. All samples and surveys are subject to other sources of error, including, but not limited to, coverage error and measurement error.
© 2025 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
