Atlantic Canadians express record levels of dissatisfaction with the performance of the Trudeau Government.

  • Support for the Conservatives continues to grow in Atlantic Canada.
  • Poilievre leads as most preferred as Prime Minister of Canada.

HALIFAX,
August 21, 202
4:

Satisfaction with the performance of the federal government led by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau continues to be at a record low, according to the latest survey by Narrative Research. Six in ten Atlantic Canadians express dissatisfaction with the performance of the federal government (61%, unchanged from February 2024), and this level of dissatisfaction is generally consistent across all four provinces. One-third are satisfied (33%, compared with 32%). This marks the lowest overall regional satisfaction level with the federal government since November 2015 (when it was 55%), a month after Trudeau was first elected Prime Minister.

When considering voting intentions, among decided voters, the Conservative Party maintains a lead with 43% (unchanged since February) expressing support for the Conservatives if a federal election were held today. One-third (32%) would vote for the Liberal Party (unchanged), while 16% would support the NDP (compared with 19%). The Green Party receives 6% of voting intentions (compared with 5%), while the People’s Party of Canada stands at 2% (compared with 1%). In each of the Atlantic Provinces, a strong minority of decided voters express support for the Conservative Party. Three in ten Atlantic Canadian voters are undecided (28%), 6% refuse to state which party they support, and 5% do not plan to vote in the next federal election.

In terms of leadership preference, one-third of Atlantic Canadians express a preference for Pierre Poilievre of the Conservative Party as Prime Minister, on par with results from six months ago (32%, compared with 30% in February 2024). Justin Trudeau is preferred by two in ten (21%, compared with 20%), while Jagmeet Singh is preferred by 17% (compared with 19%). Elizabeth May is preferred by one in ten (9%, compared with 7%), while Maxime Bernier holds steady at 2% (unchanged since February). Yves-François Blanchet is preferred by 1% (unchanged). Just a few Atlantic Canadians do not have a leadership preference (12%), and 6% say they prefer none of the main party leaders.

“Dissatisfaction with the performance of the federal government has reached the highest level recorded in Atlantic Canada since Trudeau’s government first came to power in 2015,” said Margaret Brigley, CEO & Partner of Narrative Research.  “Across the region, this growing dissatisfaction has translated into increasing support for the Conservative Party, both in terms of voting intentions and for a clear preference for its leader as Prime Minister.”

These results are part of Narrative Research’s Atlantic Quarterly®, an independent telephone survey of Atlantic Canadians, and are based on a sample of 1,450 adult Atlantic Canadians, conducted from July 31 – August 18, 2024, with overall results accurate to within ± 2.6 percentage points, 95 out of 100 times. Results have been weighted by region, age and gender to reflect the overall adult population of Atlantic Canadians. 

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

For PDF and Data tables, click here.