Canadians want a ‘Canada-first’ strategy for economic recovery: survey

PHOTO: Canadian currency

TORONTO — Nine in 10 Canadians want COVID-19 stopped in its tracks ‘by whatever means necessary’ and for the country to take a ‘Canada-first’ strategy to jumpstart our economy, finds a new survey by KPMG in Canada.

“Our research found most Canadians recognize we won’t be able to get our economy back on track until we have crushed the pandemic and vaccinated the majority of the country,” said Silvia Montefiore, a Canadian Managing Partner and COO for KPMG in Canada, in a prepared statement.

“To get the economy moving again, Canadians want the country to adopt a ‘Canada-first’ mindset. This includes our government establishing ‘buy Canadian’ incentives and for big companies to increase the amount of contracting they do with local suppliers. Individual Canadians told us they are committed to doing the same by focusing their own spending on domestic opportunities.”

Key Poll Highlights:

• 87% of Canadians say we must stop COVID-19 in its tracks by whatever means necessary with 89% seeing the rollout of approved vaccines as the only way to protect public health and jumpstart the economy
• 92% want government to create incentives to ‘buy Canadian’ to restart our economy and ensure we build necessary domestic capacity to supply our critical needs
• 86% want corporate Canada to allocate a share of all its contracts to small- and medium-sized Canadian businesses
• 89% plan to focus their personal spending on domestic opportunities to help Canada’s economy get moving again

“Canadians right across the board — from business owners to people who lost their job due to COVID-19 to essential workers — also believe that continued government investment is required to strengthen our healthcare system and support people hurt by the lockdowns — especially small- and medium-sized businesses in a number of sectors that have suffered significant economic losses as a result of the pandemic.

“The pandemic has made Canadians far more aware of the importance of our healthcare system and the people who make the system work,” said Montefiore. “But it has also given us a much greater appreciation of the many small- and medium-sized businesses in our communities that make our economy click.”