Clinging to the Bottom Rungs

Why Canadians are voting from the bottom of Maslow’s ladder

Canadian politics today isn’t being shaped by ideology or partisanship as much as it is by emotion, and that emotion is anxiety. Most Canadians aren’t debating grand visions of progress; they’re trying to make sure the ground beneath them doesn’t give way.

In our latest national survey of more than 4,500 adults, two-thirds of Canadians said their main focus in life right now is either meeting basic needs like food, housing, daily essentials or keeping themselves and their families safe, healthy, and financially stable. Only one in three are thinking more about relationships, confidence, or personal growth. It’s a snapshot of a country where most people are watching their footing, not the horizon.

This “precarity mindset” has quietly reordered our politics. When people feel the systems they rely on—the economy, housing, healthcare, retirement—are shaky, they become less open to risk and more drawn to parties that promise stability. It’s why messages about security, competence, and affordability cut through more powerfully than ones about transformation or ambition. In a world that feels unstable, “steady” beats “bold.”

This doesn’t mean Canadians have lost hope or stopped caring about issues like climate change, indigenous reconciliation, or science It means that Maslow’s hierarchy has become our political map. The bottom rungs—safety and stability—are where most voters live right now. Parties that talk confidently about protecting what people have tend to find larger, more durable audiences. Those who leap too quickly to higher-level appeals about purpose or identity risk sounding out of touch (Justin Trudeau in the final years of his PMship).