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When it comes to the professions Canadians respect most, nurses and farmers reign supreme.

According to a new Insights West poll, an overwhelming majority of Canadians express admiration towards the two professions.

More than nine-in-ten Canadians have a positive opinion of nurses (92 per cent) and farmers (91 per cent).

Beyond those top-ranking professions, more than four-in-five Canadians hold positive views of veterinarians (87 per cent), scientists (86 per cent), doctors (85 per cent), teachers (85 per cent), architects (83 per cent) and engineers (82%).

Seven other professions earned the respect of at least two thirds of Canadians with accountants seeing 79 per cent, dentists in at 78 per cent, police officers nabbing 76 per cent, actors and artists at 73 per cent, athletes at 72 per cent, auto mechanics at 70 per cent and military officers at 69 per cent.

When it comes to negative perceptions, the first place on the list of professions belongs to politicians with 71 per cent negative, followed by car salespeople at 61 per cent, lawyers at 45 per cent, business executives at 43 per cent, realtors at 43 per cent and pollsters at 42 per cent.

“Positive opinions towards some professions are not uniform across gender, age and political allegiance,” said Mario Canseco, vice president of public affairs at Insights West.

“Women, for instance, are more likely to express respect for lawyers and realtors (52 per cent and 55 per cent respectively) than men (42 per cent for each).”

Canadians aged 18-34 are more likely to have a positive opinion of actors and artists (76 per cent) than those aged 35-54 (73 per cent) and those aged 55 and over (71 per cent).

Canadians who voted for the Conservative Party last year are more likely to have a positive opinion of accountants (91 per cent) than those who supported the Liberal Party (83 per cent) or the New Democratic Party (69 per cent) in the federal election.

In fact, NDP voters are the least likely to express respect for priests and ministers (46 per cent, compared to the Canadian average of 56 per cent) and bankers (41 per cent, compared to 53 per cent across the country).

Teachers scored well among both Liberals and NDP voters (90 per cent and 86 per cent), but dropped to 80 per cent with Conservatives.

Results above are based on an online study conducted from March 7 to March 10, 2016, among a representative sample of 1,049 Canadian adults.

The data has been statistically weighted according to Canadian census figures for age, gender and region. The margin of error, which measures sample variability, is +/- 3.0 percentage points.

For a full list of all the results and professions, click here.