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Nurses, doctors and scientists the most respected

A new online survey found that 92 per cent of Canadians say they have a positive opinion of nurses
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What is the most respected occupation in the country?

According to a new Insights West poll, nurses take that distinction for the second year in a row with 92 per cent of Canadians having a positive opinion of them.

That trend continues for many healthcare professions with more than four-in-five Canadians having a positive view on doctors (89 per cent), veterinarians (88 per cent) and dentists (81 per cent).

All of those occupations scored much higher than military officers, accountants, journalists and politicians.

“As was the case in 2016, politicians and car salespeople are not particularly revered by Canadians,” said Mario Canseco, Vice President of Public Affairs at Insights West. “Still, there are some subtle differences across provinces and age groups when it comes to other professions.”

British Columbians are more likely to hold negative views of realtors (54 per cent) compared to the Canadian average (45 per cent), while more than half of Quebecers have a negative opinion of lawyers (54 per cent) compared to the Canadian average (46 per cent).

Half of those Canadians surveyed between the ages of 18-34 aren’t very pleased with their local financial institutions. Only 50 per cent hold a favourable opinion of bankers, while slightly less (49 per cent) see business executives in a favourable light.

Insights West conducted their online study of 1,257 Canadian adults between May 26 and June 2, 2017. This study has a margin of error of 2.8 percentage points.