Danielle Smith trails Naheed Nenshi on approval, but holds a four-point advantage on the “Best Premier” question.
Vancouver, BC [September 2, 2026] – The governing United Conservative Party (UCP) remains ahead of the New Democratic Party (NDP) in Alberta’s provincial political scene, a new Research Co. poll has found.
In the online survey of a representative sample of likely voters in Alberta, 46% of decided voters would support the UCP Candidate in their constituency while 43% would back the NDP.
The Progressive Tory Party of Alberta is third with 5%, followed by the Republican Party of Alberta with 2% and the Wildrose Loyalty Coalition also with 2%.
The race is close in the Calgary Metropolitan Area, where the UCP has a two-point edge over the NDP (46% to 44%). The New Democrats are three points ahead of the United Conservatives in the Edmonton Metropolitan Area (46% to 43%), while the governing party keeps the upper hand in the rest of the province (49% to 39%).
“Majorities of decided voters aged 35-to-54 (53%) and aged 55 and over (52%) would cast a ballot for the United Conservatives in Alberta,” says Mario Canseco, President of Research Co. “The New Democrats are ahead among decided voters aged 18-to-34 (57%).”
The UCP is holding on to 86% of its voters from the 2023 provincial election, losing 6% to the Progressive Tories and 5% to the New Democrats. Nine-in-ten NDP voters in the last provincial ballot (90%) are staying with the party.
Official Opposition and NDP leader Naheed Nenshi has the highest approval rating of all party leaders in the province (49%), followed by Premier and UCP leader Danielle Smith (43%), Progressive Tory Party of Alberta leader Peter Guthrie (23%), Wildrose Loyalty Coalition leader Paul Hinman (18%) and Republican Party of Alberta leader Cameron Davies (also 18%).
On the preferred premier question, Smith has a four-point lead over Nenshi (37% to 33%), with the remaining party leaders in the low single digits.
The economy and jobs is the most important issue facing Alberta for 22% of likely voters, followed by health care (20%), housing, homelessness and poverty (13%), government accountability (11%) and national unity and separation (also 11%).
Just over a third of residents of the Calgary Metropolitan Area (34%) pick the economy and jobs as the most pressing concern, while almost one-in-four residents of the Edmonton Metropolitan Area (23%) select health care.
Concerns over national unity reach 20% among Albertans aged 55 and over, 16% among NDP voters in the 2023 provincial election and 20% among Liberal Party voters in the 2025 federal election.
Methodology: Results are based on an online survey conducted from August 24 to August 26, 2026, among 750 likely voters in Alberta. The data has been statistically weighted according to census figures for age, gender and region in Alberta. The margin of error—which measures sample variability—is +/- 3.6 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