The majority of Canadians are worried about losing their jobs and being unable to pay their bills amid a COVID-19 pandemic that most believe will worsen as time goes on, a new poll has found.

The Nanos research survey of 1,013 Canadians found that 62 per cent of respondents are worried about losing their jobs due to the pandemic and 65 per cent are concerned about paying their bills. In Ontario, residents were slightly more optimistic with only 57 per cent expressing concerns about their jobs and 62 per cent worried about paying their bills.

Perhaps not surprisingly, worries about job loss were the highest among younger people (18 to 34) with about 68 per cent of that group listing it as a concern. About 72 per cent of that group also expressed concern about paying their bills compared to only 59 per cent of those above the age of 55.

Most thing pandemic will get worse in next month

The survey, which was conducted March 24-27, also found that about one-third of Canadians (33 per cent) are worried about running out of food due to the widespread reports of panic buying and shortages of some food items at grocery stores.

About 58 per cent of respondents said that they were not yet worried about that while another eight per cent said they were unsure.

Poll

Canadians also expressed concern about the deteriorating situation with COVID-19 in their communities. About 67 per cent of respondents said they expected it to worsen over the next month compared to 17 per cent who believe it will get better and 10 per cent who believe it will stay the same.

While most respondents (78 per cent) feel that their neighbours are strictly or somewhat strictly following the advice on physical distancing in order to limit the spread of the virus, a small percentage still say that they are not doing enough (16 per cent).

The belief that neighbours are adhering to the guidelines seems to depend somewhat on age, though. About 89 per cent of the oldest respondents (55 years of age and older) answered in the affirmative to the question but only 69 per cent of respondents ages 18 to 35 did.

The survey is considered accurate to within 3.1 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.