Public poll on national pharmacare with Heart and Stroke

September 24, 2019 — According to a new poll conducted jointly by Heart & Stroke and the Canadian Federation of Nurses Unions (CFNU), 93% of people in Canada feel that it’s important for everyone in Canada to have equal access to prescription drugs. The majority – 88% – also believe that it is the responsibility of the federal government to ensure it happens.

Poll highlights

• 88% of Canadians support a national pharmacare program that provides equal access to prescription drugs – regardless of income – with over one in two (51%) saying they strongly support such a program.
• Over the past 12 months, nearly one in four Canadians (24%) decided not to fill or renew a prescription, or did something to make a prescription last longer due to its cost
• One in four Canadians (25%) has an individual in their household who has hesitated about quitting or changing jobs to prevent losing prescription drug coverage.
• 35% of Canadians have experienced household budgetary stress due to the cost of prescription drugs.
• One in five Canadians (21%) with drug coverage report that they pay part of the cost of a prescription out of pocket and that those costs are difficult to afford.

The CFNU also commissioned additional data that is not part of the joint release. Our poll found that:

• 1 in 2 (50%) of Canadians are more likely to vote for a party promising a universal national pharmacare program, with nearly 1 in 4 (23%) saying they are “much more likely” to vote for such a party

Environics Research conducted this online poll of 1,500 adult Canadians 18+, August 8-16, 2019. The margin of error for a comparable probability-based random sample of 1,500 is +/- 2.6% points, 19 times out of 20.