More than half of Canadians do not favour paying higher personal income taxes to pay for health care, a new survey done by Decima Research found.

The survey, sponsored by Investors Group, also found that the majority of Canadians expect they will need more personal savings to pay for future medical bills.

While 67 per cent of Canadians expect that they will need more personal savings to pay for future medical bills, 55 per cent said they do not want to pay higher personal taxes that would go directly toward health care.

"Canadians are saying that they expect to be using more of their savings to pay for health care, but they are very lukewarm about higher taxes for health care," Debbie Ammeter, Investors Group's vice-president, advanced financial planning support, said in a news release on Friday.

Among the 41 per cent of Canadians who said they would support a tax increase to raise money for health care, 30 per cent would support an increase of no more than 3 per cent, 38 per cent would accept an increase in the range of 3 to 5 per cent range, and only 13 per cent would consider one that is 6 per cent or greater.

Almost one in five, 18 per cent, of this group said they were unsure about what level of tax increase to pay for health care they might be prepared to support.

The survey found that support for higher taxes varied significantly between English and French Canadians. While 51 per cent of English-speaking Canadians oppose higher taxes for health care, 70 per cent of French-speaking Canadians were against the idea.

Across the country, there was uniformity of opinion among Canadians expecting to need more savings to pay for future medical bills. In Atlantic Canada, 69 per cent expected they would need more personal savings, compared with 64 per cent in Quebec, 65 per cent in Ontario; 71 per cent in the Prairies, and 75 per cent in British Columbia.

The survey results are based on a Decima Express national telephone survey conducted of 2,000 adult Canadians. A survey this size is considered accurate within plus or minus 2.2 per cent 19 times out of 20.