Around four months after the 2025 Canadian federal election, YouGov has gone back to Canadians to see how they feel about the current government and state of the country. A new YouGov poll shows that Canadians' views on the direction of the country have remained largely unchanged since before the election. Mark Carney's favorability also remains in line with pre-election numbers, with a net favorability of +20. Looking across the border, the majority of Canadians continue to view Donald Trump very unfavorably, and U.S.-Canada relations remain one of the top concerns in Canada. However, it is now the second most cited issue, just behind housing and down from first place in April, named by a significantly smaller share of Canadians than just before the election.
U.S.-Canada relations
Three-quarters (73%) of Canadians view Trump unfavorably, including 61% who view him very unfavorably. Liberals and New Democrats are primarily driving the negative perception of Trump: 78% of Liberals and 85% of New Democrats say that they view Trump very unfavorably. Most (59%) Conservatives also view Trump unfavorably, compared to 31% who view him favorably.
The top three named issues for Canadians are housing (35%), U.S.-Canada relations (33%), and healthcare (30%). While U.S.-Canada relations remain prominent for Canadians, one-third of Canadians now cite it as one of the country's three top issues, down from one-half and its first-place ranking in April.
The share of Canadians who name inflation as a top issue has also dipped slightly, from 33% of Canadians in April to 28% in August. At the same time, immigration policy has risen as a concern: 21% of Canadians name it as a top concern, up from 14% in April.
Mark Carney’s performance and Canadian politics
30% of eligible Canadian voters say that they would vote for the Liberal Party if an election were held today, compared to 27% saying that they would vote for the Conservative Party. Support for the two major parties is mixed across age groups. 18- to 29-year-olds and 45- to 54-year-olds are split between the two major parties. Slightly more 30- to 44-year-olds say that they would vote for the Conservative Party than say they would vote for the Liberal Party (30% vs. 25%). More Canadians 65 and older say that they would vote for the Liberal Party than the Conservative Party (38% vs. 26%).
While most Liberals and Conservatives would vote for the party they most closely identify with, as was the case before the election, things have changed more for the New Democratic Party. After many New Democrats voted Liberal in the 2025 federal election and NDP support plummeted, most New Democrats have swung back to saying that they would vote for their party (64%).
Half (51%) of Canadians view Carney favorably, compared to 32% who view him unfavorably. Pierre Poilevere is seen less favorably than Carney is: 36% of Canadians view him favorably, and 47% unfavorably. For both politicians, slightly more Canadians are unsure about how they feel about them than were unsure in April.
Half (50%) of Canadians approve of Carney’s performance as prime minister, with most of those (34% of all Canadians) expressing mild approval. Almost all Liberals are also united around Carney’s performance (82% approve; 10% disapprove). Approval of Carney is also strong among New Democrats (70%), although only 15% strongly approve of his performance. A majority of Conservatives (57%) disapprove of Carney’s performance as prime minister, including one-third (34%) who strongly disapprove.
When Canadians are grouped by age, approval of Carney is highest among Canadians 65 and older (59%). 45- to 64-year-olds are more likely to disapprove of Carney’s performance (34%) compared to other age groups. 18- to 29-year-olds are more likely to feel mildly positive as prime minister compared to other age groups, and also most likely to be unsure about his performance.
Many Canadians continue to say that the country is off on the wrong track: 46% say that the country is off on the wrong track compared to 31% who think the country is generally headed in the right direction. The share of Canadians who view the country’s direction as either positive or negative has changed little since the period immediately after the election.
— Kristin Crawford contributed to this article
Methodology: This article includes results from an online survey conducted August 18 - 26, 2025 among 987 Canadian adults. Respondents were selected from YouGov’s opt-in panel to be representative of adult Canadians. The sample was weighted according to gender, age, education, region, and 2025 federal election vote. Demographic weighting targets come from the 2021 Canadian Census. The margin of error for the overall sample is approximately 3%.
Image: Getty (Danielle Donders)
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