Every few months, Leger conducts a study on the performance of the British Columbian government. This time, the study was conducted between January 24 and 26, 2025.
Executive Summary
More than three months after the October 2024 BC election, the latest Leger polling data indicates surprisingly little change in party support with the BC NDP maintaining its lead with 44% voting intention and the Conservative Party of BC following closely behind at 42%. With the recent resignation of Sonia Furstenau, the BC Green Party has seen a slight uptick in support, now reaching 10%.
Both BC NDP leader David Eby’s and BC Green Party leader Sonia Furstenau’s approval ratings have risen significantly since the election, with Eby at 49%, and Furstenau’s at 38% likely due to the accolades & recognition she’s received upon news of her stepping down. Despite the surge in popularity of John Rustad’s party up through election night, approval ratings have remained stable, but the number of voters who say their perceptions of him as a leader have declined has risen from 20% to 27% indicating that some challenges have surfaced in this early stage of his term as opposition leader.
The recent decline in interest rates and drop in inflation numbers appears to have shifted the public agenda of the most important issue facing the province. Housing affordability had been consistently at the top of the charts for the past four years, but has slipped seven full points to one-in-five saying it’s the most important issue. Our ongoing healthcare crisis has resulted in healthcare staying a firm 2nd in the list, while inflation has dropped from it’s high of 19% four years back to the current level of 11%, and the tariff issue has made it’s debut at 7% (data collection was prior to the announcement this past weekend)
BC residents have not noticed significant changes in the NDP government’s approach to key policy areas since our last poll in August 2024, despite its election victory in October. Approval ratings for most issues have remained fairly steady as of our most recent read in January 2025, with slight increases in public approval for the government’s handling of transportation and roads (+6%), federal relations (+6%), and homelessness (+4%–albeit ratings are dismally low on this particular file).
The NDP continues to receive its highest approval ratings for wildfire evacuations (53% approval) , Indigenous reconciliation (47%), transportation (45%), and federal relations (45%). However, public disapproval ratings remain high (over 50%) in critical areas such as homelessness, the opioid crisis, poverty, housing affordability, taxes, crime, and healthcare.
Methodology
This web survey was conducted from January 24 to 26, 2025, with 1,001 British Columbians aged 18 or older, randomly recruited from LEO’s online panel. A margin of error cannot be associated with a non-probability sample in a panel survey. For comparison, a probability sample of 1,002 respondents would have a margin of error of ±3.1 %, 19 times out of 20.
