The Confederation of Tomorrow surveys have been tracking public opinion on federalism in Alberta (and across the country) annually since 2019. The results from the latest survey, conducted in February and March of 2026, reveal how Albertans have been reacting to developments within the province, as well as to the change of federal leadership in Ottawa.
The survey finds that opinions among Albertans overall about their province’s treatment in the Canadian federation have been steadily improving. On average, Albertans are much less likely to express feelings of “Western alienation” today than they were when this annual series of surveys began seven years ago. There has, however, also been a steady polarization of opinions in the province. Among supporters of the governing United Conservative Party (UCP), opinions about Alberta’s treatment in the federation have remained unchanged and very negative. Among supporters of the opposition New Democratic Party (NDP), opinions have changed significantly, becoming much more positive. Whatever consensus may previously have existed in the province on this issue has eroded.
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:
- The Environics Institute for Survey Research
- Centre of Excellence on the Canadian Federation
- The School of Public Policy at the University of Calgary
- Centre D’Analyse Politique – Constitution et Fédéralisme
- Brian Mulroney Institute of Government
- First Nations Financial Management Board
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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