Health care and affordability lead a list of community concerns that Canadians want to see more reporting on, according to a new national study commissioned by the Canadian Journalism Foundation (CJF).

Conducted by Canada Pulse Insights, the September survey of 1,600 Canadian adults, found that 88% are interested in news about their local community, but 53% say at least two of the three local issues that matter to them most don’t receive enough coverage.

Of respondents top three municipal or local concerns, health care and access to care were cited as most important by 50% of respondents (rising to 62% in Atlantic Canada and 61% in SK/MB); 39% said roads, traffic and public transit were among the most important issues; followed by crime, policing and public safety (38%); housing, homelessness and development (34%); local government spending, services and accountability (31%); and the local economy and jobs (26%).

At the national level, affordability and the cost of living was cited as the dominant concern for 61% of Canadians, followed by health care at 49% and jobs and the economy at 30%. Affordability was also the single issue Canadians most frequently asked news organizations to cover more thoroughly (17%).

“Clearly, Canadians care deeply about the issues closest to their daily lives–health care, affordability, housing, public safety and how their communities are working,” said CJF President and Executive Director Natalie Turvey, in a survey release. “They also want journalism that goes beyond the headlines, with more depth, context, accountability and reporting that helps them understand what is happening and what can be done about it.”

Coverage shortfalls

The majority of survey respondents said they receive too little news coverage on the aforementioned issues, with the exception of crime, policing and public safety (49%). Health care and government spending were cited as getting too little coverage by 61% of those surveyed, with 57% prioritizing housing/homelessness and 51% prioritizing the local economy saying the same.

The survey found that while 88% of Canadians are interested in local news, just 70% feel well informed about their local community (compared to 79% for provincial news and 78% for national news).

When asked what’s missing from news coverage, respondents highlighted more depth, detail and analysis (13%), solutions and action-oriented reporting (12%), greater accountability for government actions (10%) and how issues affect ordinary people (6%).

Traditional news sources essential

The survey also looked at how Canadians are consuming news, finding that on a typical day, 79% are turning to at least one traditional news source (TV, radio, daily/local newspapers or their digital apps/websites).

TV news programs led those sources at 48%, followed by news websites or apps (34%), radio (32%), daily newspapers (30%) and local/community newspapers (25%). Thirty-eight per cent said they were getting news from social media, with more than half (51%) accessing news content from at least one social or creator source. Another 13% said they rely on independent creators/influencers, while four per cent use AI chatbots or search summaries for daily news.

Of the 32% of Canadians that currently pay for at least one news provider, 57% of those have paid subscriptions to Canadian news sources, while 22% split their subscriptions between Canadian and international outlets.