44 Percent of Canadians Say the Country Is on the Wrong Track: Poll

Canadians are nearly equally split on whether the country is headed in the right or the wrong direction, according to a new Abacus Data survey.

The poll released June 23 of 3,080 Canadians found that 44 percent of them say Canada is on the wrong track, while 42 percent say it is headed in the right direction, and 14 percent are unsure.

“We find that Canadians are looking at the country, the economy, the federal government, and political leaders from very different starting points depending on where they are in life and whether they are male or female,” Abacus Data CEO David Coletto said.

In May, an Abacus Data poll found that 39 of Canadians believed the country was on the wrong track, while 47 percent said it was on the right track, which was the highest percentage since 2017.

The latest Abacus poll found Canadians aged 36 to 50 have the most negative view of the country, with only 34 percent saying it is heading in the right direction. Younger Canadians aged 15 to 35 had a less negative opinion, with 41 percent saying Canada is on the right track.

Meanwhile, 46 percent of older Canadians aged 51 to 64 said the country is on the right track, while the most optimistic group is those aged 65 and over, with 48 percent saying the country is on the right trajectory. A majority of women over age 65 (53 percent) said it is going in the right direction.

“The national mood is not uniformly bleak or pessimistic. It is more anxious and frustrated among younger and middle-aged Canadians, while older Canadians—and especially older women—are more likely to see the country as moving in the right direction,” Coletto said.

When it came to the top issues facing Canadians, 66 percent cited the increasing cost of living, 39 percent said the economy, 35 percent said healthcare, 34 percent said housing, and 31 percent said U.S. President Donald Trump and his administration. Of the issues listed, the fewest percentage of Canadians chose the rise of AI, the threat posed by Russia and China, and indigenous reconciliation as the most important.

When asked if they believed Canada is currently in a recession, 57 percent said yes, while 23 percent said no, and 20 percent said they were not sure. Statistics Canada reported in late May that Canada’s economy shrank for two straight quarters on an annualized basis, meeting the common definition of a technical recession, but the C.D. Howe Institute said soon after that it was too early to conclude that Canada was in a recession.

When asked who or what is most responsible for the current state of Canada’s economy, 37 percent cited Trump and his tariffs, while 22 percent blamed Prime Minister Mark Carney’s government, 17 percent blamed former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, and 12 percent said it was the fault of forces beyond Canada’s control.

The poll found that Carney has the support of 51 percent of Canadians, with older people and women being more likely to have a positive view of him. A total of 38 percent of Canadians have a positive view of Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre, while just 18 percent have a positive view of NDP Leader Avi Lewis, with 56 percent unsure or having a neutral view.