Majorities in Alberta and Ontario Would Prefer a Different Premier

Since August, the proportion of Albertans who feel they would be “better off” as a country increased by 10 points to 38%.  

Vancouver, BC [December 28, 2021] – As the year draws to an end, residents of Alberta and Ontario are particularly dissatisfied with their premiers, a new Research Co. poll has found.  

In the online survey of a representative national sample, 51% of Canadians think their province would be better off with a different head of government in charge.  

Majorities of Albertans (73%, +5 since a similar Research Co. poll conducted in August 2021) and Ontarians (57%, +3) suggest that the state of affairs would be more satisfactory under a different premier. The proportion is lower in Quebec (42%, +4) and British Columbia (35%, +1).  

Practically half of Canadians (49%, +2) believe their province would be better off with a different Prime Minister in Ottawa, while 36% disagree and 15% are undecided.  

Criticism of the current prime minister is strongest in Alberta (65%), Saskatchewan and Manitoba (56%) and British Columbia (53%), followed by Ontario (49%), Quebec (42%) and Atlantic Canada (38%).  

Just under one-in-five Canadians (18%) believe their province would be better off joining the United States and becoming an American state—a proportion that rises to 25% in Alberta and 24% in Quebec.  

Almost two-in-five Albertans (38%, +10) and three-in-ten Quebecers (30%, +5) believe their province would be better off as its own country.  

“Separatist sentiment in Alberta is currently near the levels observed in December 2019 (40%),” says Mario Canseco, President of Research Co. “Across the province, 16% of residents strongly agree with the idea that they would be better off as an independent nation.”