Most Canadians say GST tax break will have no impact on finances: Nanos survey

Ont. to match Ottawa's GST tax break on some items The Ontario government says it will match the federal government's temporary tax break on 'not currently covered' items.

Many Canadians believe that the GST/HST tax break will have little to no impact on their finances, according to a new survey.

The findings of a recently released Nanos Research survey suggest two in three Canadians say the Liberal government’s recent GST or HST tax break on certain items will have no impact on their household’s finances.

On Dec. 14, a two-month break from the federal GST took effect, where the federal government announced the plan to temporarily waive the five per cent Goods and Services Tax (GST) in an effort to help ease affordability concerns during the holidays.

In provinces where the provincial sales tax is lumped in with the GST, making for a Harmonized Sales Tax (HST), the entire HST will be removed from certain items.

The study, commissioned by CTV News, determined that the tax break would have the following effect on Canadians:

As for the likelihood of voting Liberal in the next federal election, six in 10 Canadians said the tax break would have no impact on their vote.

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 Dec. 30, 2024 to Jan. 5, 2025 as part of an omnibus survey. Participants were randomly recruited by telephone using live agents and administered a survey online. The sample included both land- and cell-lines across Canada. The results were statistically checked and weighted by age and gender using the latest Census information and the sample is geographically stratified to be representative of Canada. Individuals randomly called using random digit dialling with a maximum of five call backs. The margin of error for this survey is ±3.0 percentage points, 19 times out of 20. This study was commissioned by CTV News and the research was conducted by Nanos Research.