Albertans Feel They Get No Respect: POLL

Published 01/22/2025 · Updated 01/22/2025

This is a release from the non-profit Angus Reid Institute:

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President Donald Trump’s threat of a 25-per-cent tariff on all Canadian goods is on hold, at least for now.

Reports broke Monday, the same day he was inaugurated for the second time, that the imposition would not be made on Day 1, and that several options are still on the table for the 47th American President. While no longer imminent, Trump’s threats have nonetheless shone light on continued regional divisions in Canada.

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith’s hesitation to put her province’s valued resource sector on the negotiating table with Trump and her position as the lone provincial or territorial standout in an otherwise unified statement of purpose by Canadian governments on this matter, align with consistent and long held feelings among Albertans of alienation within Confederation.

But Albertans are not alone in feeling that Canada doesn’t necessarily work for their province as well as it does for others.

The latest data from the non-profit Angus Reid Institute finds Albertans by far the least likely in the country to feel respected by the rest of Canada. Three-in-10 (29%) say this, a lower level than Atlantic Canadians (36%) and Saskatchewan residents (39%), the two groups who come closest to Alberta on this measure. Majorities in Manitoba and Quebec join them in feeling a lack of respect.

On the other end of the spectrum, B.C. (67%) and Ontario (64%) residents are by far the most likely in the nation to feel that their province receives adequate respect. Notably, while in most of the country the proportion of those feeling respect toward their provinces has dropped since 2016 (in Alberta this number has fallen from 45% to 29%), in Ontario there has been a five-point increase.

Albertans are also most likely to say they contribute more to the country than they get back. Four-in-five (81%) feel this way, perhaps emboldening Smith to take certain aspects of the Alberta economy off the table in cross-border negotiations. That said, a majority of all provincial residents – aside from Manitoba and Atlantic Canada – also feel that they put in more than they get back in federation, so Alberta is hardly unique in this perspective.

More Key Findings:

Selling unity may be easier for some premiers than others. Consider that in Ontario, 91 per cent of residents say they’re Canadian first and Ontarian second. This is 16-points higher than anywhere else in the country. And while a majority feel this way in Alberta (63%), a much larger minority (37%) say they identify as Albertan before Canadian.
Half of Canadians feel that their province is treated fairly by the federal government. Saskatchewan ranks lowest at 27 per cent, with Alberta at 30 per cent on this question. Conversely, seven-in-10 (72%) in Ontario feel their province gains fair treatment. No other province reaches the majority mark.

Link to the poll here: www.angusreid.org/