Public expectations for collaboration in the Canadian federation
With a new majority, the federal Liberal government now faces fewer obstacles in passing legislation than it would have in a minority Parliament. Nonetheless, the government’s majority status does not diminish the need to negotiate with its partners in the federation – provincial and territorial governments, and Indigenous governments and communities. The latest Confederation of Tomorrow survey shows that, notwithstanding the urgency attached to the need to build new transportation and energy infrastructure to help increase energy exports, most Canadians continue to prefer that the government take the time it needs to reach agreements, whether with the provinces and territories or Indigenous communities.
There are two notable aspects of this finding. The first is that the current federal government’s apparent popularity as measured in the polls does not translate into a blank cheque from Canadians for it to proceed in the absence of agreements with its provincial or Indigenous partners. The second is the absence, broadly speaking, of a double-standard: on the whole, Canadians are just as likely to insist on the need for the agreement of Indigenous communities as they are the agreement of provinces.
2026 Survey Details
The 2026 study consists of a survey of 5,696 adults, conducted between February 14 and March 28, 2026 (92% of the responses were collected between February 19 and March 7); 91 percent of the responses were collected online. The remaining responses were collected by telephone (both landline and cell phone) from respondents living in the North or on First Nations reserves, or from francophone respondents in New Brunswick.
The survey is conduced on behalf of all the survey partners by the Environics Institute for Survey Research. The fieldwork is managed by Elemental DCI. The online portion of the survey drew respondents from the Leger LEO panel; the telephone interviews were conducted by Elemental DCI.
Partners
The Confederation of Tomorrow surveys give voice to Canadians about the major issues shaping the future of the federation and their political communities. They are conducted annually by an association of the country’s leading public policy and socio-economic research organizations:
Acknowledgement
This project benefits from the financial support of the Research Support Program of the Secrétariat du Québec aux relations canadiennes (SQRC) / Ce projet bénéficie de l’appui financier du Programme d’appui à la recherche du Secrétariat du Québec aux relations canadiennes (SQRC).
Note: The survey data are weighted in three separate ways, depending on the population of interest. First, the complete survey data are weighted by region, gender, age, education, home language (separately for Quebec, New Brunswick and the rest of Canada) and Indigenous identity, so as to be representative of the Canadian population. Second, the territorial sample (when reported separately) is weighted by gender, age and education. Third, the Indigenous sample (when reported separately) is weighted by gender, age, region and education.
Public expectations for collaboration in the Canadian federation
With a new majority, the federal Liberal government now faces fewer obstacles in passing legislation than it would have in a minority Parliament. Nonetheless, the government’s majority status does not diminish the need to negotiate with its partners in the federation – provincial and territorial governments, and Indigenous governments and communities. The latest Confederation of Tomorrow survey shows that, notwithstanding the urgency attached to the need to build new transportation and energy infrastructure to help increase energy exports, most Canadians continue to prefer that the government take the time it needs to reach agreements, whether with the provinces and territories or Indigenous communities.
There are two notable aspects of this finding. The first is that the current federal government’s apparent popularity as measured in the polls does not translate into a blank cheque from Canadians for it to proceed in the absence of agreements with its provincial or Indigenous partners. The second is the absence, broadly speaking, of a double-standard: on the whole, Canadians are just as likely to insist on the need for the agreement of Indigenous communities as they are the agreement of provinces.
2026 Survey Details
The 2026 study consists of a survey of 5,696 adults, conducted between February 14 and March 28, 2026 (92% of the responses were collected between February 19 and March 7); 91 percent of the responses were collected online. The remaining responses were collected by telephone (both landline and cell phone) from respondents living in the North or on First Nations reserves, or from francophone respondents in New Brunswick.
The survey is conduced on behalf of all the survey partners by the Environics Institute for Survey Research. The fieldwork is managed by Elemental DCI. The online portion of the survey drew respondents from the Leger LEO panel; the telephone interviews were conducted by Elemental DCI.
Partners
The Confederation of Tomorrow surveys give voice to Canadians about the major issues shaping the future of the federation and their political communities. They are conducted annually by an association of the country’s leading public policy and socio-economic research organizations:
Acknowledgement
This project benefits from the financial support of the Research Support Program of the Secrétariat du Québec aux relations canadiennes (SQRC) / Ce projet bénéficie de l’appui financier du Programme d’appui à la recherche du Secrétariat du Québec aux relations canadiennes (SQRC).
Note: The survey data are weighted in three separate ways, depending on the population of interest. First, the complete survey data are weighted by region, gender, age, education, home language (separately for Quebec, New Brunswick and the rest of Canada) and Indigenous identity, so as to be representative of the Canadian population. Second, the territorial sample (when reported separately) is weighted by gender, age and education. Third, the Indigenous sample (when reported separately) is weighted by gender, age, region and education.
The Confederation of Tomorrow surveys give voice to Canadians about the major issues shaping the future of the federation and their political communities. They are conducted annually by an association of the country’s leading public policy and socio-economic research organizations.
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