STAY CONNECTED: Have the stories that matter most delivered every night to your email inbox. Subscribe to our daily local news wrap.
Fans wave a Canadian flag before the men's ice hockey gold medal game between Canada and the United States at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, Sunday, Feb. 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
By The Canadian Press

Highest proportion of people since 2017 say Canada is on the right track: poll

May 24, 2026 | 11:55 AM

OTTAWA — The number of Canadians who believe the country is heading in the right direction has hit its highest percentage since 2017, according to a new poll from Abacus Data.

The poll published Sunday said that 47 per cent of people believe Canada is heading in the right direction, while 39 per cent say the country is on the wrong track.

Meanwhile, the poll suggests 76 per cent of Canadians see the rest of the world as moving in the wrong direction. That figure increases to 80 per cent when the question was about the United States

Pollster David Coletto said that this is reflected by respondents saying they see Canada as a stabilizing force in a turbulent world.

“We’ve got everything the world wants, and so despite the uncertainty and the chaos of this moment around the world, I think Canadians are increasingly feeling, not everybody, but a growing number of Canadians feel that it’s good to be in Canada right now relative to other parts of the world,” Coletto said.

“There’s this part patriotism, but also part rational response to feeling that things are moving in the right direction, and they haven’t felt that way in quite a while.”

The perception of Canada being on the right track does split along party lines with 71 per cent of Liberal voters sharing that view and only 24 per cent of Conservative voters.

Coletto said that while issues like affordability rank highly for everyday challenges faced by Canadians, they aren’t necessarily blaming the federal government as the sole cause.

“They’re not pointing to decisions that the Carney government are making, they’re pointing to Trump, they are pointing to these conflicts around the world, as things that, yes, are driving their price of gas up are going to put pressure on the price of food, but they’re looking for people here who can help,” Coletto said. “And right now, for almost six in 10 Canadians Mark Carney is that person.”

The poll suggests that optimism is giving a boost the Prime Minister Mark Carney’s Liberal government more than a year into the current mandate.

Abacus found that the Liberals have majority support in Atlantic Canada, Quebec, Ontario and B.C. The Conservatives enjoy the most support in the Prairie Provinces.

Forty-seven per cent of respondents said they would vote Liberal if an election were held today and 35 per cent said they would vote Conservative. This is the highest result Abacus has tracked for the Carney Liberals.

The NDP picked up eight per cent support in the poll, the Bloc Québécois at six per cent and the Green at two per cent.

This survey was conducted between May 14 and 20 with 1,920 respondents and has a 2.23 per cent margin of error 19 times out of 20.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 24, 2026.

David Baxter, The Canadian Press

by The Canadian Press