A Survey Revealed Canadians' Biggest Worries For 2023 & They're Pretty Gloomy

Once a time of optimism, the heralding of the new year might nowadays feel more like a meditation in worst-case scenarios. And a recent Leger survey reveals just how gloomy some Canadians' outlook for 2023 has become. In a list of potential calamities in the year ahead, inflation, recession, an expanded war in Ukraine, and climate catastrophe were Canadians' biggest points of concern.

The survey included input from 1,526 Canadians between December 9 and 11.

Leger presented a list of 15 "possible 2023 events" and asked respondents to state whether each prospect was a source of worry. 86% were anxious about inflation and prices. Economic recession followed with 81%. A majority of respondents also said Ukraine (72%), climate change (68%), nuclear weapons (66%), gun violence (65%), human rights abuses (61%), viral diseases other than COVID-19 (57%) and COVID itself (52%) were cause for concern.

When asked about their biggest worries for 2023, 44% said inflation and 31% said recession. Climate change (15%) was a distant third. Those concerns were mostly consistent across party lines. Only among members of the Bloc québécois was climate change a bigger source of worry (33%) than inflation (30%) or recession (31%).

Inflation topped the list of worries for 2023 among all Quebec respondents more broadly (32%) but to a lesser degree than every other Canadian region included in the survey.

Canadians were overall doubtful that life would improve next year. Only 34% of Leger survey-takers expressed optimism that 2022 would be better than 2023. 22% expect it to be worse and 40% thought "it will be about the same."