Canadians were asked who they trust most with the economy. Here's what they said

Nanos on the Numbers: Ballot support Pollster Nik Nanos discusses the latest survey numbers showing which party is leading in ballot support.

When polled about economic management, Canadians were more likely to say they don't trust any political parties at all than to say they trust the prime minister's Liberals.

According to a new survey conducted by Nanos Research for CTV News Channel's Power Play, the Conservatives come out on top when Canadians are asked who they most trust to "responsibly manage the finances of the Government of Canada."

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre's party has a 16-point advantage over the Liberals on this question, with 35 per cent of respondents saying they trust the Tories the most. The next most common response was "I trust none," which was how 21 per cent of Canadians surveyed felt.

Justin Trudeau's Liberals were the most trusted among 19 per cent of those surveyed. NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh's party placed fourth, with 10 per cent of respondents stating they trust New Democrats the most to manage government finances. Another seven per cent of respondents said there is "no difference."

The survey was conducted between March 31 and April 1, days into the federal Liberal government embarking on a cross-Canada pre-budget spending announcement tour aiming to maximize eyeballs on a series of new initiatives targeting younger voters that will be included in Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland's April 16 federal budget.

According to Nanos' numbers, when looking at the 18-34 age group specifically, Conservatives also came out on top, with 30 per cent of younger Canadians saying they trust Poilievre's party the most, followed by "none" and the NDP at 24.4 per cent and 14.4 per cent respectively.

The Liberals ranked fourth with just 14.2 per cent of surveyed Canadians aged 18 to 34 – largely those millennial and Generation Z demographics the party is targeting — saying they trust team Trudeau the most to manage federal finances.

As of the fall economic check-in, the federal deficit was projected to be $38.4 billion in 2024-25, and government coffers were not forecast to get back to balance at any point in the next six years, remaining billions away from Trudeau's long-broken balanced budget pledge.

Methodology:

Nanos conducted an RDD dual frame (land- and cell-lines) hybrid telephone and online random survey of 1,069 Canadians, 18 years of age or older, between March 31 and April 1, 2024, as part of an omnibus survey. Participants were randomly recruited by telephone using live agents and were administered a survey online. The margin of error for this survey is ±3.0 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.