The cost of living, inflation and healthcare are the top concerns for Canadians according to a poll by Abacus Data.

The poll finds 70 per cent of Canadians want the government to prioritize reducing the cost of living, while 62 per cent want the government to get a handle on inflation.

Over half of the respondents want to see improvements to Canada’s public healthcare system.

The poll, commissioned by the National Union of Public and General Employees, also finds the majority of Canadians want their provincial governments to prioritize funding for public healthcare. Staffing issues and insufficient numbers of healthcare workers were identified as key concerns among those surveyed.

“It’s not surprising that the most common unprompted response to our survey, when asked why our health care system isn’t working well, was the lack of employees,” said Bert Blundon, NUPGE President.

The poll notes that 80 per cent of Canadians believe the issues with healthcare funding come from government priorities rather than government revenues.

“Health care workers are key to improving our health care system,” said Jason MacLean, NUPGE Secretary-Treasurer

Over half the respondents said that the provincial government and federal government share equal blame for healthcare shortfalls.