TORONTO - Despite rising record numbers of unemployed in Canada, a poll by The Economic Club of Canada/POLLARA Strategic Research shows concern amongst Canadians about pending individual job losses is actually dropping.

One in five Canadians (21%) believe it is somewhat likely they, or a member of their immediate family, will lose their job in the next year. This marks a 10-point drop from the 13-year high observed in December, 2008, when 31% of Canadians believed they or someone in their household might lose their job in the next 12 months. The current numbers of 21% (somewhat or very likely) are in line with those observed in December 2006 and 2007 (19% each).

"This marks a trend to more optimism amongst individual Canadians in the past month," says Mark Adler, President of The Economic Club of Canada. "This may be a push-back to all the negativity that surrounds us and a testament to the spirit of Canadians and their belief that we will emerge from the crisis, and that better days are ahead."

The results were collected from 2771 respondents on POLLARA's online panel between February 26 and March 2 and weighted by age, gender and region to ensure they are based upon a representative sub-section of Canada's population. The margin of error in such a survey would be +/- 1.9%, 19 times out of 20.

Concern is highest in Ontario, where 27% believe it is at least somewhat likely they or an immediate family member will lose their job.

"Although there is a lot of concern over the state of the economy, this has not hit home for the majority of Canadians," said Michael Marzolini, Chairman of POLLARA. "Outside of Ontario, where there is some heightened anxiety, the fear of job losses is comparable to pre-recession levels."