Canadians living in the prairies are growing increasingly disillusioned with federalism, a new poll suggests. 

A Leger for the Association for Canadian Studies report found that just 21% of Canadians living in Saskatchewan and Manitoba think there’s more advantages than disadvantages to federalism.

Results are five points higher in Alberta at 28%. That’s down five percentage points since July 2020 — just months into the Covid-19 pandemic — when a similar question was asked.

The number of Canadians who feel there are more benefits to federalism rises to 35% in Ontario and BC and to 39% in Atlantic Canada. Quebecers are most satisfied with federalism at 40%. 

Broken down by party, Liberal supporters by far think there’s more advantages to federalism than disadvantages at 54%. That number drops to 33% for Green supporters and 32% for New Democrats supporters. Next come the Conservatives at 31%, followed by the Bloc Québécois at 20% and the People’s Party of Canada (PPC) with 20%. 

Broken down by party support, 48% of Liberal supporters agree that relations are good between their province and the federal government, compared to 40% of NDP supporters, 34% of Conservatives, 25% of Greens, 23% of Bloc supporters and 16% of PPC voters.

The poll revealed that Albertans are the proudest Canadians at 65.2%. Next came the prairies at 64.2%, Atlantic Canada at 61.7%, Ontarians at 60% and Quebecers at 42.8%.

Across the country, Canadians are feeling less like the federal government and provinces work well together. Just 15% of Albertans think relations between Ottawa and their government are good, down five points from two years earlier. 

While that number rises to 18% in Manitoba and Saskatchewan, it dropped significantly from 29% two years ago. 

Quebecers dropped two points from 30% in 2020, while Ontario dropped from 62% to 37% and BC dropped two points to 54%.

The Leger poll, conducted between Nov. 11- 13, polled 1,537 Canadians using an online panel. A margin of error cannot be associated with the poll, but a probability sample of the same size would have a margin of error of plus or minus 2.5%, 19 times out of 20.

Author

  • Rachel Emmanuel

    Rachel is a seasoned political reporter who’s covered government institutions from a variety of levels. A Carleton University journalism graduate, she was a multimedia reporter for three local Niagara newspapers. Her work has been published in the Toronto Star. Rachel was the inaugural recipient of the Political Matters internship, placing her at The Globe and Mail’s parliamentary bureau. She spent three years covering the federal government for iPolitics. Rachel is the Alberta correspondent for True North based in Edmonton.