Ford Maintains Lead (40%, -1) as Best Premier Over Horwath (29%, -3) and Del Duca (22%, +1) With One Week Left in Ontario Election

Toronto, ON, May 28, 2022 – With one week left to go in the 2022 Ontario general election, a plurality of Ontarians remain unwavering in their preference for Doug Ford as the candidate who would make the best premier in the province, according to a recent Ipsos poll conducted on behalf of Global News. Four in ten Ontarians (40%) choose Doug Ford as the best person for the job, down 1 point from earlier this month. Andrea Horwath (29%, -3) and Steven Del Duca (22%, +1) trail well behind.

Ford’s popularity with Ontarians is higher among men (46% vs. 34% for women), older age groups (49% 55+ and 40% 35-54 vs. 27% 18-34), and Ontarians with higher income (46% +$100K vs. 40% $60K-<$100K, 40% $40K-<$60K, and 32% <$40K). Interestingly, among Ontarians who are strongly or somewhat interested in following the election, 43% prefer Doug Ford compared to those who are not interested in the general election (29%).

Andrea Horwath appears secure in her second-place position, garnering stronger support among households earning under $40K (38%), $40K-60K (35%) and $60K-$100K (31%) compared to those making over $100K (20%). Ontarians between the ages of 18-34 (41%) are also more likely to choose the NDP leader as best Premier compared to those aged 35-54 (29%) and 55+ (20%).

Support for Steven Del Duca remains steady this month. Support for Del Duca over the other candidates continues to be highest among women (25%) compared to men (18%), and Ontarians who earn over $100K+ (27% vs. 24% $60K-<$100K, 16% $40K-$60K and 19% <$40K). As seen with Ford, among Ontarians who are strongly or somewhat interested in following the election, 26% are more in favour of Steven Del Duca compared to those who have little interest in the election (14%).

When asked how favourable they are toward each of the party leaders, Ford and Howarth continue to be neck-in-neck at 34% (10% very, 24% somewhat favourable) and 33% (10% very, 23% somewhat), respectively. Del Duca saw a 4-point increase in favourability compared to earlier this month (22%: 4% very, 18% somewhat), while Mike Schreiner (19%) saw a 9-point increase in favourability (4% very, 15% somewhat).

Despite the premier’s relative popularity compared to his competitors, 46% have an unfavourable of him, up 3 points. However, Ford is not the only candidate who saw increases in his or her unfavourability scores. Horwath (36%, +7), Del Duca (35, +7%) and Schreiner (20%, +4) also have growing proportions who see them in an unfavourable light. Notably, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has the highest proportion of unfavourable mentions among Ontarians, at 50%.

As unfavourability has increased for all candidates, 56% of Ontarians say they wish there were different party leaders to choose from in this election. Increasing familiarity has not led to increasing confidence and support.

About the Study

These are some of the findings of an Ipsos poll conducted between May 17 and 19, 2022, on behalf of Global News.  For this survey, a sample of n = 1501 Ontarians aged 18+ was interviewed online (n = 1001 though the Ipsos I-Say panel and non panel sources) and by live-operator telephone interview (n = 500 through landline and cellphones).  Online respondents earn a nominal incentive for their participation.  Quotas and weighting were employed to balance demographics to ensure that the sample's composition reflects that of the adult population according to Census data and to provide results intended to approximate the sample universe. The precision of Ipsos polls which include non-probability sampling is measured using a credibility interval. In this case, the poll is accurate to within ± 2.9 percentage points, 19 times out of 20, had all Ontarians been polled. The credibility interval will be wider among subsets of the population. All sample surveys and polls may be subject to other sources of error, including, but not limited to coverage error, and measurement error. Ipsos abides by the disclosure standards established by the CRIC, found here:
For more information on this news release, please contact:

For more information on this news release, please contact:

Darrell Bricker
CEO, Ipsos Global Public Affairs
+1 416 324 2001
[email protected]

Sean Simpson
Senior Vice President, Ipsos Public Affairs Canada
+1 416 324 2002
[email protected]

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