Has Mark Carney Actually Changed Canada’s Direction?
Polling shows Canadians see some change from the Trudeau years, but many say the country is still on the same path
New polling is shedding light on how Canadians feel about Mark Carney’s government so far, and how that compares to Justin Trudeau, who left office with an abysmal approval rating at the end of 2024.
Their previous poll in May 2025 found 49% of Canadians wanting Carney’s government to completely change course on government policy, compared to 38% who wanted minor changes to be made, and only 13% who said they didn’t want any changes made.
Among Liberal voters, those numbers sat at 53% who wanted minor changes compared to Trudeau’s government, 32% who wanted to completely change course, and only 16% who wanted to stay the course.
Compare that to today, when Pollara asked Canadians how they felt Carney’s government has moved compared to Trudeau, and expectations are now meeting reality in a mixed bag.
Only 28% of Canadians believe that Carney’s government has completely changed course compared to Trudeau, while 43% say they’ve made minor changes along the way. A noticeable share of Canadians (30%) say that the government has broadly stayed the course, with 20% of Liberals feeling the same way.
Want access to full articles, election models, polling deep-dives, and more?
Consider supporting Canadian content like this for as little as $5/month!
There’s likely overlap between the 30% of Canadians who believe Carney’s government has broadly maintained the same course as Trudeau’s did, and the 35% of Canadians who say that Carney’s government is just a fourth term of Liberal governance.
Pollara found another 40% of Canadians who believe that Carney’s government feels more like the first term of a new government, rather than another term of the decade-long Liberal government started under Trudeau.
Unsurprisingly, 58% of Conservatives say that it feels more like a fourth Liberal term, alongside 33% of New Democrats, 31% of Bloc, and 26% of Liberals.
However, a quarter of Conservatives say Carney’s government feels more like the first term of a new government, a sentiment shared among 56% of Liberals, 48% of New Democrats, 46% of Bloc, and 26% of non-voters.
If you roam around left leaning circles online, you’ll have seen plenty of users making claims that Carney is a conservative under the Liberal brand. Interestingly, Pollara asked Canadians whether they feel like Carney’s government feels more like a Progressive Conservative government or not.
Overall, 35% of Canadians agreed with that sentiment, which included 48% of New Democrats, 47% of Bloc, and 44% of Liberals. Conservatives were much less likely to agree with such a statement, however even 26% of Conservative voters feel like Carney is more like a PC rather than a Liberal.
Disagreement with that statement was highest among Conservatives at 64%, Liberals at 40%, and New Democrats at 34%. Meanwhile, non-voters are broadly unsure how they feel about the notion that Carney’s government feels more like a Progressive Conservative one, with nearly half of non-voters saying they’re unsure.
When it comes to the issues, Canadians are once again something of a mixed bag.
The two issues Canadians say have worsened the most since Carney took over as Prime Minister are Canada-US relations and the cost of living, with 55% of Canadians saying both have gotten worse.
Carney’s strongest suits have been international relations and federal provincial relations, with 39% and 25% of Canadians, respectively, saying those areas have improved under his leadership.
Issues such as the economy and jobs find 18% and 14% of Canadians saying they’ve improved, while 32% and 38% say they’ve stayed largely the same. However, 36-38% of Canadians say those two issues have gotten worse in the last year.
Regardless of how Canadians feel about the situation on each issue, what is clear is that many Canadians vastly prefer Carney’s approach on the issues compared to Trudeau’s.
For example, only 8% of Canadians say they preferred Trudeau’s approach to Canada-US relations, while 47% say they prefer Carney’s approach, with another quarter of Canadians saying they dislike both equally.
Similarly, 45% of Canadians preferred Carney’s approach to international relations, compared to the 8% who said the same for Trudeau’s approach, while 23% dislike both equally.
Once again, the cost of living remains Carney’s most notable pain point, with 39% of Canadians disliking both his and Trudeau’s approach on the issue, while 25% prefer Carney’s approach and 7% prefer Trudeau’s approach.
Overall, while Canadians broadly approve of Carney’s handling of government during his first year in office, there is certainly a divergence of views across the board in how Canadians view his government itself and how it is handling the issues of the day. As Carney passes his first year in office, only time will tell how Canadians will view the rest of his prime ministership.