Federal Politics: Week of March 17

17 March 2025

From March 14 to 16, 2025, we surveyed Canadians on federal politics.

Some of the key highlights of our survey about Canadian Politics​…

  • If a federal election were held today, 42% of Canadians would vote for the Liberal Party led by Mark Carney, while 39% would vote for the Conservative Party. The Liberal Party has seen a 5-point increase since last week, taking the lead over the Conservative Party, which has experienced a 2-point increase. This represent the first time since early 2023 the Liberals are leading the Conservatives.

  • Nearly half of Canadians (46%) hold a favourable view of Mark Carney, while 28% have an unfavourable opinion, and 26% are not familiar enough with him to have formed an opinion.

  • While 39% of Canadians have a favourable opinion of Pierre Poilievre, 49% view him unfavourably, and 12% do not know him well enough to form an opinion.

  • Over three-quarters of Canadians (77%) agree that one of Mark Carney’s top priorities should be meeting with President Trump to discuss the current trade tariff situation. This proportion is higher among Liberal voters (86%).

  • Between Mark Carney and Pierre Poilievre, 42% of Canadians think that Carney would do a better job managing the relationship with the U.S. and President Trump. Canadians also feel Carney would be best suited to grow Canada’s economy (45% vs 31% for Poilievre), do more for the environment (40% vs 13% for Poilievre), and make life more affordable for Canadians (37% vs 32% for Poilievre). On the other hand, Carney is also seen by Canadians as the one more likely to raise taxes (35% vs 25% for Poilievre).

Méthodology

The results for this wave of research are based on online research conducted from March 14 to March 16, 2025  with a representative sample of 1,568 Canadian adults 18 years of age and older from Leger’s LEO panel.

The data was statistically weighted according to 2021 Canadian Census figures. ​

A margin of error cannot be associated with a non-probability sample in a panel survey, but for comparison purposes, a probability sample of 1,568 would have a margin of error of +/- 2.47%, 19 times out of 20.

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