Younger Canadians are more likely to trust Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre to look out for their interests than older generations, according to the latest public issues polling from Nanos Research.
The survey, conducted for CTV News and the Globe and Mail, adds to previous findings that suggest young people are leaning right politically this election.
Overall, 34 per cent of respondents across the country trusted Mark Carney and the Liberals the most to help young Canadians – but Nik Nanos, chief data scientist for Nanos Research, noted they were “closely followed” by Poilievre and the Conservatives, at 31 per cent.
Just 13 per cent trusted Jagmeet Singh and the NDP the most.
The remaining 22 per cent of respondents either said they trust none of the candidates (12%) on that question, all of the candidates (3%), or were unsure (7%).
Broken down by age, those in the 18 to 34 category were by far the most likely to trust Poilievre and the Conservatives to help young Canadians over Carney and the Liberals, at 38 per cent and 26.4 per cent, respectively.
Respondents who were age 55 or older had the opposite view, with 41.4 per cent naming Carney as the most trustworthy on that issue and 25.8 per cent favouring Poilievre.
Those in the 35 to 54 category were more evenly split between the two leaders and their parties, leaning towards Poilievre and the Conservatives by just 1.8 percentage points.
Overall, men were more likely to trust Poilievre to help young Canadians and women were more likely to trust Carney.
Approximately three-in-five NDP voters and two-in-five Bloc Quebecois voters said they trusted Carney the most on that question, while just 2.8 per cent of NDP voters and 12.5 per cent of Bloc voters said the same about Poilievre.
Nanos Research also asked respondents what they consider the most important issue this election, and found priorities similarly split by age group.
Canadians under age 55 were most likely to name cost of living as their top issue, while those 55 and older were more likely to consider the U.S. trade war the most pressing matter this election.
The survey was conducted online and over the phone from April 14 to 16, among 1,351 randomly selected adults. The results have a margin of error of plus or minus 2.7 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.
