- Cost of living and the U.S. trade war top the list as the two most important election issues.
- Mark Carney leads as most preferred as Prime Minister of Canada, and the Liberal Party is considered most effective in terms of addressing key issues.
- Atlantic Canadians are highly engaged in this upcoming election.
April 16, 2025
With election day less than two weeks away, the Liberal Party holds a commanding lead across Atlantic Canada.
Voting intentions: When considering voting intentions among decided voters the Liberal Party holds a strong lead with two-thirds (65%) planning to vote Liberal in the upcoming federal election. One-quarter (26%) plan to vote for the Conservative Party, while fewer than one in ten (8%) plan to support the NDP. Few plan to vote for any other party including either the Green Party or the People’s Party of Canada. Findings are generally consistent across the Atlantic region, with the Liberal Party leading in all provinces, age groups and genders. Of note, residents aged 55+ are more likely than other age groups to vote Liberal, and women are more likely than men to vote Liberal. Just 13 percent of Atlantic Canadians are undecided in their voting intentions.
Reflective of voting intentions, Atlantic Canadians are considerably more likely to prefer Mark Carney as Prime Minister than any other party leader (Mark Carney: 56%; Pierre Poilievre: 20%; Jagmeet Singh: 9%; Maxime Bernier: 1%).
Most important election issues: Several issues are deemed important in this federal election, most notably the cost of living, followed closely by the U.S. trade war. Other issues considered most important to Atlantic Canadians include healthcare, the economy, and housing. By comparison, climate change is identified as a most important issue by just under one in five Atlantic Canadians. While the most important issues are generally consistent across all age groups in the region, those aged 18-54 are more likely to consider cost of living as important, while residents aged 55+ place greater importance on the U.S. trade war or healthcare.
Which party would do the best job? When asked which party would do the best job on each of six key areas, findings provide insight as to why Atlantic Canadians may be planning to vote for the Liberal Party. Across the region, the Liberal Party is by far deemed most effective at dealing with U.S. President Trump and U.S. tariffs, as well as at strengthening the Canadian economy, while four in ten say the Liberal Party would be most effective at addressing the cost of living or addressing the housing situation. To a lesser extent, the Liberal Party is considered more effective than other parties at improving healthcare, while the Liberal Party and the Green Party are as likely to be considered most effective in terms of protecting the environment.
Atlantic Canadians appear to be highly engaged in this federal election. Indeed, the vast majority say they are paying attention to this federal election (including the party positions on key issues), primarily through news websites / apps or television. Online news sites are the primary information source for most when deciding how to vote, although television is the most important source of information for those aged 55 or older, and social media is especially important for 18–34-year-olds.
Reflecting high levels of engagement across the region, seven in ten Atlantic Canadians say they are likely to watch one of this week’s leadership debates.
“Findings suggest that our region may experience another ‘red wave’ with the Liberal Party both holding a commanding lead among decided voters and being considered most effective at addressing the issues deemed most important to Atlantic Canadians,” said Margaret Brigley, CEO & Partner of Narrative Research. “However, this poll represents a snapshot of public opinion at one point in time. We have a highly engaged electorate, which suggests that parties have an opportunity to influence voters during the final stretch, either through the leaders’ debates, in the formal launch of party platforms, or via other means.”
These results are from an online survey of 1,361 Atlantic Canadian eligible voters from Narrative Research’s East Coast Voice online general population panel. The survey was conducted April 8– April 13, 2025. Data have been weighted by region, age and gender to reflect the overall adult population of Atlantic Canadians. As a non-probability online sample, a margin of error is not applied, however, for comparison purposes, overall results from a probability sample of this size would have a margin of sampling error of ± 2.7 percentage points, 95 out of 100 times.
Narrative Research www.narrativeresearch.ca, is non-partisan and is one of Canada’s leading public opinion and market research companies. Narrative Research is 100% Canadian-owned and a certified women business enterprise (WBE). Follow us on LinkedIn or at narrativeresearch.ca/news.
For more information, please contact:
Margaret Brigley, CEO & Partner, Narrative Research at 902.493-3830, mbrigley@narrativeresearch.ca
The questions asked included:
What do you consider to be the most important issues in this upcoming federal election? [Randomize. Allow up to three]
- U.S. trade war/tariffs
- Cost of living
- The economy
- Housing
- Healthcare
- Climate change/protecting the environment
- Foreign policy
- Poverty
- Income support
- Reconciliation with Indigenous Canadians
- Jobs
- Long-term care
- Oil pipelines
- Racial inequality
- Taxation
- Inflation
- Other – Please specify: ________________
- None of the above
- Not sure
To what extent are you paying attention to the federal election, including the various parties’ standing on issues?
- A great deal
- A moderate amount
- A small amount
- Not at all
What are your most important sources of information when deciding how to vote in the upcoming federal election? [Randomize. Choose up to three]
- Word of mouth (friends, family, colleagues)
- Television
- Radio
- Print newspapers
- News websites or apps
- Social media such as Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), or Instagram
- Online searches such as Google
- Other (please specify:__________________)
- Not sure
As you may be aware, leadership debates will be televised on April 16th (French) and April 17th (English). How likely are you to watch one of the debates?
- Definitely
- Probably
- Probably not
- Definitely not
- Not sure
Which party do you plan to vote for in the upcoming federal election? RANDOMIZE; ONE RESPONSE ONLY
- Liberal Party
- Conservative Party
- New Democratic Party (NDP)
- Green Party
- Other (please specify: ____________________)
- Don’t know/Undecided
Which one of the following party leaders would you most prefer as Prime Minister of Canada? RANDOMIZE
- Pierre Poilievre of the Conservative Party
- Mark Carney of the Liberal Party
- Jagmeet Singh of the NDP
- Yves-François Blanchet of the Bloc Québécois
- Jonathan Pedneault of the Green Party
- Maxime Bernier of the People’s Party of Canada
- Other (please specify: ____________________)
Thinking about the upcoming federal election, which party do you think would do the best job in terms of: RANDOMIZE ITEMS, ONE CODE FOR EACH
a) Addressing the cost of living
b) Improving healthcare
c) Addressing the housing situation
d) Dealing with U.S. President Trump and U.S. tariffs
e) Protecting the environment
f) Strengthening the Canadian economy
- Liberal Party
- Conservative Party
- New Democratic Party (NDP)
- Green Party
- Not sure
- None
