In the wake of an announced delay to Donald Trump’s planned tariffs on Canadian exports, a majority (52%) of Canadians approve of the way the Federal government is responding to issues resulting from Trump’s Presidency.
The fear factor is growing. A majority (58%) of Canadians are now feeling afraid as a result of Donald Trump’s election to the Oval Office.
These are some of the findings of an Innovative Research Group (INNOVATIVE) online survey of 1,795 Canadian adults, conducted between February 5th and February 7th, 2025. The final data was weighted to a sample of 1,000.
Conservatives now hold 40% of the (decided) popular vote, with the Liberals following at 27% and the NDP at 16%. The Liberals jumped to 27% last week and held steady this week. The Conservative support dropped from 43% to 40%. Support for the Conservative party is highest in Alberta at 59%, while the Liberals enjoy their highest support among those living in Atlantic Canada (35%).
While more Canadians have an unfavourable (59%) than favourable (25%) impression of Justin Trudeau, his net favourable score continues to rise over the past month and now sits at -33%. The Bloc’s Yves-Francois Blanchet enjoys the highest favourables at +17%, followed by the Conservatives’ Pierre Poilievre at -3% and the NDP’s Jagmeet Singh at -12%. Notably, all leaders except Poilievre experienced a positive bump in their favourables over the past week. Poilievre dropped into net negative territory for the first time since the fall of 2023.
Following a negotiated delay in Trump’s planned tariffs, a majority (52%) of Canadians approve of the way the Federal government is responding to issues resulting from Trump’s Presidency. Three-quarters (77%) of Liberals approve, 65% of NDP partisans approve, and 42% of Conservatives approve. With more people approving than disapproving of the Federal government’s response, net approval on this measure now sits at +34%. This increase, compared to only +11% in late January and +7% in early January, demonstrates the extent of the “rally around the flag” boost of support following last weekend’s drama.
Pierre Poilievre and the Conservatives are not faring as well as the Liberals. Just under 3-in-10 (29%) approve of the Conservative’s response to Trump while 22% disapprove. Approval is up from 25% when we first asked in January while disapproval is holding steady. There is a significant gender gap with women less likely to approve.
As Donald Trump’s early days in office continue, Canadians are becoming increasingly afraid. Currently, 58% of Canadians are either “mostly” (43%) or “somewhat” (16%) afraid, compared to only 15% who are excited (6% “very”, 9% “somewhat”), resulting in a net excited score of -43%. Since tracking began in November of 2024 before Trump was sworn in, the net excited score has dropped 12 points from -31% as fear increases and excitement decreases.
The poll also put Pierre Poilievre head-to-head against the two frontrunners to replace Justin Trudeau as Prime Minister. When it comes to who Canadians believe is best equipped to handle Canada-US relations during Trump’s Presidency – Mark Carney, Chrystia Freeland or Pierre Poilievre – in a trade-off between Poilievre and Carney, those left feeling excited by Trump’s Presidency prefer Poilievre (69%), while those feeling afraid prefer Carney (45%).
Freeland does not do quite as well as Carney, but the same pattern can be seen. In a battle between Poilievre and Freeland, Poilievre is favoured by those who are excited (71%), while those who are afraid (35%) favour Freeland.
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