Mark Carney is winning hearts and minds

According to a recent survey conducted by Ekos Politics, the Liberal Party has established a significant 12-point advantage over the Conservative Party in Canada. This lead, however, was not the only notable revelation from the Canadian pollsters' findings.

Beating the Conservative Party

While the Liberals may have captured 43.9% of voter intention compared to 32% for the Conservatives in the latest polling results from Ekos Politics, the real shocking finding was the revelation that Prime Minister Mark Carney is proving to be very popular amongCanadians.

Carney has a high favorability rating

According to the data, 68% of Canadians approve of the way Carney is handling his job as Prime Minister, while just 32% disapprove. In comparison, Conservative Party leader Pierre Poilievre is struggling when it comes to his favorability rating.

Poilievre’s new political problem

Just 33% of Canadians surveyed approve of the job Poilievre is doing, while a whopping 67% disapprove, which means Carney is currently leading Poilievre by 70 points when it comes to net favorability between the two politicians

Carney versus Poilievre

“Mark Carney enjoys a two-to-one net positive approval rating, the highest approval rating of a sitting prime minister since Justin Trudeau’s 2015 post-election period,” Ekos Politics explained in a report on its new findings.

Pierre Poilievre isn't doing as well

“Pierre Poilievre, meanwhile, has seen his approval rating fall to an all-time low," Ekos Politics added, noting an interesting fall from grace that the Conservative Party leader has seen in recent months.

Other important recent findings

The new findings on the situation between Canada’s two largest political parties followed other recent data showing that Canadians were very optimistic about the future of their country with Carney at the helm of a fourth Liberal term in office.

Optimism surged under new Liberal leadership

Polling conducted by Abacus Data between June 2nd to 5th discovered that 38% of Canadians think that their country is heading in the right direction, which is a huge increase from similar polling in May.

Positive Impressions are up

Positive impressions about the direction of Canada among Canadians have been on the rise since hitting their most extreme low point (19%) in the middle of December 2024.

Optimism about Canada

Optimism about the country had been hovering around 30% for most of 2025, but things began to change in April 2025 following the election of the Liberal Party with Mark Carney at its helm.

Big approval numbers

Approval of Carney’s government at the beginning of June 2025 hit a high of 53% approving, while just 23% of Canadians disapproved of his Carney's government; it was a remarkable feat for a party that appeared to be destined to lose power as recently as December 2024.

Carney earned high marks

“Over a month since the election, Prime Minister Mark Carney continues to earn high marks from Canadians,” Abacus Data CEO David Coletto explained in a statement.

Carney’s personal brand has been a big asset

According to Abacus Data, Carney’s government approval is the best approval rating a federal government has enjoyed since the global pandemic, and similar to 2015 figures. “Carney’s personal brand continues to be a major asset," Coletto explained.

Popular with Canadians

Carney is proving quite popular with Canadians as well. 51% of people have a positive impression of the Prime Minister while 27% have a negative impression of the new PM.

Still not as well liked as Justin Trudeau

Interestingly, other surveys have shown Carney to be a popular figure, but he isn’t as well-liked as Justin Trudeau was back when the former Prime Minister was first elected.

Falling behind former Prime Minister

According to findings from the Angus Reid Institute, Carney’s initial approval rating is a fantastic 57%. However, Carney's approval rating was 6 points behind Trudeau’s initial approval rating of 63%.

Even Stephen Harper scored better at first

Carney’s initial approval rating was also 4 points lower than former Conservative Party Prime Minister Stephen Harper, who scored an initial approval rating of 61%. However, Carney’s approval rating isn’t bad news according to the Angus Reid Institute.

Carney has room to grow

“Six months ago, very few Canadians even knew who he was,” Angus Reid, the founder of the Angus Reid Institute, explained to The Hill Times. “It’s a good start, and it’s more or less on par with other prime ministers,” Reid continued.

The Liberals are well situated

When it came to data about election preferences, Abacus Data found the Liberal Party would be well situated if a new election were held the day the polling firm administered its latest survey. The Liberals held 42% of the vote share and the Conservatives 39%.

Other polling firms have found a wider difference in vote share in June. For example, a dataset from Nanos Research’s weekly polling that ended June 6th revealed the Liberals were leading the Conservatives by 10 points. During the election, it was a dead heat.

Carney has a huge advantage

“Liberal Leader Mark Carney is opening up a 25-point advantage over Pierre Poilievre as the person Canadians would prefer as Prime Minister,” Nanos Research chief data scientist Nik Nanos explained in a report on the firm's latest polling.