Canadians are evenly split in their initial response to the Liberal government’s budget but there is little support for an election, according to INNOVATIVE’s tracking.
These results come from an online poll conducted between November 5th and November 7th, 2025, of 1,164 Canadian citizens, 18 years or older. This survey was sponsored by INNOVATIVE Research Group Inc. and weighted to n=800 based on age, gender, region, education, and self-reported past federal vote to ensure the overall sample reflects the population according to Census data.
What a difference a year makes. The Trudeau government’s last budget in September 2024 was very poorly received, with 25% of Canadians reporting themselves satisfied with it after its delivery, compared to 56% dissatisfied. As a result, a near-majority (49%) of Canadians were calling for an election in its aftermath.
The Carney government’s long-awaited first budget sees a much more positive impression, if not overwhelmingly. Net satisfaction with the federal budget saw a sharp increase of 32 points compared to last year’s, with 12-point increase in satisfaction and 20-point decrease in dissatisfaction. Canadians are now evenly divided, with 37% saying they are satisfied and 36% dissatisfied with the federal budget, while 20% are neither.
Only just under half of Canadians (49%) recalls reading, seeing or hearing (RSH) about the budget, however. This imperfect awareness is significantly higher than pre-budget levels (20 point increase). Overall this level of attention is broadly similar to the RSH recall of previous budgets.
Importantly for the government, the majority of Canadians (56%) think an election should be avoided, and only 30% disagree. This is strikingly different from September 2024, and indicates even many of those who don’t support the government don’t support an election at this time.
The public has only somewhat tuned in on the budget, despite its ‘transformational’ billing, and they are evenly split on whether they like it. As a relatively low-attention issue the consensus can shift depending on either execution or communication. The government is undoubtably pleased to see that outside their most committed opponents Canadians aren’t interested in an election, and as a result government looks clear to attempt to enact its program.
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