More than 7 out of 10 Ontarians are worried U.S. tariffs will impact province’s economy: Nanos survey

Canadian banknotes are arranged for a photograph in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, on Wednesday, July 25, 2018. Photographer: Brent Lewin/Bloomberg (Brent Lewin/Bloomberg)

As U.S. President Donald Trump continues to threaten tariffs on Canada, more than seven out of 10 Ontarians say they are concerned about their impact on Ontario’s economy, according to a new survey released by CTV News' official pollster Nanos Research on Wednesday.

The survey of 920 Ontario adults, which was commissioned by CTV News, found that 76 per cent of respondents said they are concerned possible U.S. tariffs could have a negative impact on the province’s economy while another 15 per cent said they are somewhat concerned.

About six per cent of respondents said they are not concerned while two per cent said they are somewhat not concerned. About one per cent of respondents were unsure.

On Tuesday, the White House said Trump’s 25 per cent tariffs on steel and aluminum imports would be stacked on top of other levies on Canadian goods.

The announcement came after the president signed executive orders on Monday to impose the tariffs starting Mar. 12.

The Nanos Research survey, which interviewed respondents between Feb. 8 and Feb. 10, showed that worry about the impact of tariffs on Ontario’s economy was the strongest across the Greater Toronto Area, where 79.7 per cent of respondents were concerned.

Just over 75 per cent of residents in northeastern Ontario also voiced concern over the tariffs.

Nanos reveals women were most concerned about economic impacts, with nearly 80 per cent of female respondents saying they were worried. Men expressed the highest amount of no concern toward tariffs in relation to Ontario’s economy at nearly eight per cent.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford appealed directly to American business leaders during a trip to Washington, D.C. Tuesday, asking them to reach out to Republican lawmakers and the president on Canada’s behalf.

NDP support lower than last election

In separate nightly tracking results released Wednesday, Nanos found that the PCs continue to lead the second-place Liberals by a notable margin, with 44.5 per cent of decided respondents saying they would vote for Ford’s Conservatives in the Feb. 27 election, compared to 32 per cent for Crombie’s Liberals, 16.5 per cent for the NDP, and 5.1 per cent for the Green Party.

“Ford maintains ballot advantage and remains the most popular choice to be the Premier of Ontario,” Nik Nanos, chief data scientist for Nanos Research, said in his analysis accompanying the survey.

About 40.6 per cent of Ontario residents said they thought Ford was the right candidate to lead the province, followed by Crombie at 26.8 per cent, NDP Leader Marit Stiles at 14.6 per cent, and Green Party Leader Mike Shreiner at 5.5 per cent.

“The PCs and Liberals continue to surpass the support they received in the last provincial election while support for the New Democrats is lower than the last election,” Nanos said.

The survey included a random survey of 935 Ontarians who were interview between Feb. 9 and 11.

Both surveys have a margin of error of plus or minus 3.2 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.