This week, we surveyed Canadians on politics, government performance, and key national issues.
Highlights include…
Federal Politics
- The Liberal Party, led by Mark Carney, holds a lead in federal voting intentions with 47% support among decided voters, compared to 38% for the Conservatives. The Conservatives show a two-percentage-point increase in their voting intentions since last month (36%).
- Satisfaction with the Carney government stands at 51%, representing a three-point drop since the last measurement. Notably, the share of Canadians who say they are very dissatisfied with the government has increased by three points, reaching 21% in September. Similarly, the Carney government’s approval rate has also declined, dropping from 56% in August to 53% in September.
- Still, one in two Canadians (50%) believe Pierre Poilievre’s chances of winning the next election against Mark Carney are poor, while 14% are unsure. Just over one-third of Canadians (36%) think Poilievre could defeat Carney in a future election. This proportion rises to 72% among Conservative voters.
Projects of National Interest
- Half of Canadians (47%) report being familiar with Prime Minister Carney’s major projects initiative, while a slight majority (53%) are not. Familiarity is higher among Albertans (58%), Ontarians (50%), and Liberal voters (55%).
- Nearly half of Canadians (46%) believe that new oil and natural gas pipelines are the major project most likely to have the greatest impact on Canada’s economy. This is followed, at a lower level, by the expansion and interconnection of Canada’s electricity grid (21%) and new liquefied natural gas facilities (15%). Support for new pipelines is strongest among Albertans (63%) and Conservative voters (60%).
- Three in four Canadians (72%) believe that once these projects are identified, the government should move forward more quickly than usual with 39% saying much quicker, and 33% saying somewhat quicker.
- Overall, 42% of Canadians think Carney is doing a good job in getting the Projects of National Interest initiative underway, while 31% think he is doing a poor job. More than a quarter (27%) remain unsure.
Public Safety
- Canadians are divided in their sense of safety: 51% say they are worried about general safety in their neighbourhood, while nearly as many (49%) are not. Canadians living in rural areas are more likely to say they are not worried (60%).
- A vast majority of Canadians (87%) believe that citizens have the right to defend themselves with reasonable force if an intruder breaks into their home.
- More than half of Canadians (54%) feel that the justice system is working against the interests of citizens, while 29% believe it protects those interests, and 17% are unsure. Ontarians (59%) and homeowners (56%) are particularly likely to think the justice system works against citizens.
Methodology
The results for this wave of research are based on online research conducted from September 5 to September 7, 2025 with a representative sample of 1,592 Canadian adults 18 years of age and older from Leger’s LEO panel.
Results were weighted according to age, gender, mother tongue, region, education and presence of children in the household in order to ensure a representative sample of the Canadian population.
A margin of error cannot be associated with a non-probability sample in a panel survey, but for comparison purposes, a probability sample of this size yields a margin of error no greater than ±2.5%, (19 times out of 20) for the sample.
