Practically three-in-five residents think the city needs a Mayor and Council similar to New York’s Zohran Mamdani.
Vancouver, BC [February 2, 2026] – After more than three years of a municipal government headed by Ken Sim and the A Better City (ABC) party, Vancouverites offer mixed reviews on what they have experienced so far, a new Research Co. poll has found.
In the online survey of a representative municipal sample, 27% of Vancouverites think Sim and ABC may not have gotten everything right, but would keep their leadership to make Vancouver better.
A slightly larger proportion of residents (32%) say Sim and ABC have not kept their key promises and call for a change in leadership at City Hall, but not a major change in policy.
More than one-in-four Vancouverites (27%) think Sim and ABC have shown that their policies do not work for Vancouver and want different ideas to make Vancouver better.
Only 15% of voters who supported Sim in the 2022 mayoral election believe ABC’s policies have not worked for Vancouver and call for a change—along with 44% of those who voted for Kennedy Stewart and 38% of those who voted for the minor candidates who received less than 10% of the vote in 2022.
Vancouver voters elected Sean Orr of the Coalition of Progressive Electors (COPE) and Lucy Maloney of OneCity Vancouver as city councillors in a by-election that took place in April 2025.
More than two-in-five Vancouverites (44%) think we “definitely” or “probably” need more Vancouver City Council members with the kind of progressive and left-wing views that Orr and Maloney represent, while 25% disagree and 30% are not sure.
Last year, voters in New York City elected Zohran Mamdani as Mayor. Mamdani has called for major changes to benefit working class New Yorkers.
Almost three-in-five Vancouverites (59%) believe their city needs a Mayor and Council like Mamdani, willing to make major changes that will make life more affordable, even if they make Vancouver’s elite uncomfortable.
Conversely, about one-in-four Vancouverites (23%) think a socialist mayor like Mamdami is too risky for Vancouver, will undermine investment in the city, and see a return to the soft-on-crime approaches of previous councils.
“Two thirds of Vancouverites aged 18-to-34 (67%) think the city would benefit from a mayor and council like the one currently in place in New York,” says Mario Canseco, President of Research Co. “Majorities of residents aged 35-to-45 (53%) and aged 55 and over (60%) share this view.”
Across Vancouver, 47% of residents agree with the city eliminating the Board of Parks and Recreation, and placing public parks and the public recreation system under the jurisdiction of City Council, down five points since a similar Research Co. poll conducted in June 2022.
Seven-in-ten Vancouverites (70%) think the residents of the City of Vancouver should decide in a referendum if the Board of Parks and Recreation should be eliminated.
Vancouverites were also asked to place eight municipal political parties and associations in the political spectrum.
At least two-in-five Vancouverites see four parties as centre right, centre or centre left: ABC (48%), OneCity Vancouver (44%), the Vancouver Liberals (40%) and TEAM for a Livable Vancouver (also 40%). Fewer residents feel the same way about the Coalition of Progressive Electors (COPE) (39%), Vote Vancouver (also 39%), the Green Party (38%) and the Conservative Electors Association (30%).
Just over a third of Vancouverites (34%) brand the Conservative Electors Association as right or extreme right, followed by ABC with 17%, TEAM with 13% and the Vancouver Liberals also with 13%.
Three-in-ten residents (30%) believe the Greens are left or extreme left, followed by COPE and OneCity with 20% each and the Vancouver Liberals with 15%.
Methodology: Results are based on an online survey conducted from January 26 to January 28, 2026, among a representative sample of 401 adults in the City of Vancouver. The data has been statistically weighted according to Canadian census figures for age, gender and region Canada. The margin of error—which measures sample variability—is +/- 4.9 percentage points, nineteen times out of twenty.
Find our data tables here and download the press release here.
For more information on this poll, please contact:
Mario Canseco, President, Research Co.
778.929.0490
[e] mario.canseco@researchco.ca