Canadians rank agriculture and auto industries as top priorities for federal support: Nanos survey

Canadians believe the agriculture and auto sectors should be the federal government’s top priorities when it comes to supporting industries impacted by U.S. tariffs, according to a new Nanos Research survey conducted for CTV News.

The survey asked participants to rank which industries the government should be spending the most money to help by identifying their top two priorities.

“One interesting thing, and this is from a political perspective, is that there’s not really one thing that cuts right across the country,” said Nik Nanos, founder and chief data scientist at Nanos Research.

The agriculture sector was picked by respondents as the top priority, with 29 per cent ranking it first and another 19 per cent ranking it second. The auto industry was not far behind, with 24 per cent putting it first and 18 per cent putting it second.

The softwood lumber sector came in third on the list, with 15 per cent ranking it first and 31 per cent putting it second. The aluminum industry was fourth on the priority list, with 15 per cent of respondents putting it first and 25 per cent ranking it second.

Provincial priorities

The survey also clearly indicated that industry priorities are closely tied to provinces.

“Think of all these things averaging out nationally, but different parts of the country being laser-like focused on sectors that are important to them,” said Nanos.

As expected, support for the agriculture sector was highest in the Prairies, the auto industry got the most votes in Ontario, the softwood lumber sector ranked number one in British Columbia, and the aluminum industry was the top priority in Quebec.

“For Mark Carney as prime minister, he’s got to do a lot of political juggling right now,” said Nanos.

Methodology

Nanos conducted an RDD dual frame (land-and cell-lines) hybrid telephone and online random survey of 1,045 Canadians, 18 years of age or older, between Oct. 27 and 30, 2025. The firm says its survey results carry a margin of error of plus or minus three percentage points, 19 times out of 20, and that results were weighted by age and gender using the latest census information to represent the Canadian population.