Majority of Albertans Disapprove of Danielle Smith’s Performance

Calgary, AB June 7, 2026 – A new Ipsos poll on behalf of Global News shows Albertans disapprove of the job Danielle Smith is doing overall and with respect to the issue of Alberta separation. The poll also shows that many Albertans on both sides of the separation issue believe Danielle Smith supports the opposite side of their own. 

Majority of Albertans disapprove of the job being done by Danielle Smith
More Albertans disapprove (56%) than approve (38%) of the job being done by Danielle Smith as Premier of Alberta, including more than four-in-ten (42%) who disapprove “strongly” of her performance (vs. 17% strongly approve). Six percent are undecided.
     •    Smith’s approval is higher among men (45% vs. 31% among women) and younger residents (45% of 18-34 years vs. 38% of 34-54 years, 31% of 55+ years).
     •    Smith has high approval among current UCP voters (78%) and very low approval among both NDP voters (14%) and undecided voters (16%).

Opposition and NDP leader Naheed Nenshi has a job approval rating (39%) that is only one point higher than Smith. Like Smith, Nenshi also has more job disapproval (44%) than approval. Seventeen percent are undecided.
     •    Nenshi’s approval is higher among those under 55 years of age (42% vs. 34% among 55+ years) and those living in Calgary (44%) and Edmonton (42%) compared to those in the rest of Alberta (31%).
     •    Nenshi has a 78% approval rating among current NDP voters, compared to 21% approval among UCP voters and 15% approval among undecided voters.

Disapproval of Smith extends to her handling of Alberta separation, although those supporting separation are on her side
Six-in-ten (58%) residents disapprove of how Danielle Smith and her government have handled the issue of Alberta potentially separating from Canada, including 44% who “strongly” disapprove. One-in-three (33%) Albertans approve of the handling of this issue (13% strongly), while 9% are undecided.

While Smith has been criticized by some prominent Alberta separatists, her handling of this issue has the approval of eight-in-ten (79%) of those who would vote for separation in a binding referendum. This compares to the approval of only two-in-ten (21%) who would vote for Alberta to stay in Canada. 

     •    Approval of how Smith and her government have handled this issue is higher among men (40% vs. 27% among women) and younger residents (40% of 18-34 years, 35% of 34-54 years vs. 26% of 55+ years).
     •    Approval is much higher among current UCP voters (67%) than among NDP voters (14%) and undecided voters (13%).

Both stay and separation voters think Danielle Smith wants the opposite of themselves
Overall, there are more Albertans who believe that Danielle Smith wants Alberta to separate from Canada (48%) than there are Albertans who believe she wants Alberta to stay in Canada (31%). Two-in-ten (21%) residents are unsure whether Smith wants Alberta to stay or separate.

Among those who would vote for Alberta to stay in Canada in a binding referendum, more think Danielle Smith wants Alberta to separate (55%) than think she wants Alberta to stay (26%).

Among those who would vote for Alberta to separate from Canada in a binding referendum, more think Danielle Smith wants Alberta to stay in Canada (53%) than think she wants Alberta to separate (32%).

Many Albertans question Danielle Smith’s motives to proceed with a referendum
Albertans have differing views on Danielle Smith’s decision to proceed with a referendum related to Alberta separation. A slight majority (52%) believe the bigger factor was “to protect her job as UCP leader and Premier”. Fewer, one-third (34%) of residents, believe the bigger factor was “to find a legal way to allow Albertans to have their say on the province’s future”. Fourteen percent are undecided.

Opinions on this issue split firmly on party support. 
     •    Two-thirds (67%) of current UCP supporters say Smith’s motivation was to allow Albertans to have a say (vs. 25% to protect her job). 
     •    Eight-in-ten (81%) current NDP supporters say Smith’s motivation was to protect her job (vs. 12% to allow Albertans to have a say). 
     •    Undecided voters lean more toward the job protection motivation (50%) than allowing Albertans to have a say (16%), but many (34%) are undecided.

UCP has a narrow lead among decided voters, but many are undecided today
Among decided voters in Alberta, the UCP has a statistically insignificant 3-point lead over the NDP in vote support. The UCP has the support of 48% of decided voters (down 5-points from 2023 election), while the NDP is at 45% (up 1-point from 2023 election). Six percent support other parties. These results exclude the 25% of Albertans who are undecided or will not vote.

Decided vote support is very close in Calgary (48% NDP vs. 47% UCP) and Edmonton (48% NDP vs. 44% UCP). The UCP has a 16-point lead in the rest of Alberta (56% UCP vs. 40% NDP).
 

About the Study

These are the findings of an Ipsos poll conducted May 28 to June 1, 2026 on behalf of Global News. For this survey, a sample of 1,500 Canadians aged 18+ was interviewed online, including 600 Alberta residents and 900 rest of Canada residents. These data were statistically weighted by region, age, gender and education to ensure the sample composition reflects that of the actual Canadian population according to Census data. The precision of Ipsos polls containing online data is measured using a credibility interval. In this case, the overall poll of 1,500 Canadiana is accurate to within +/- 3.1 percentage points, 19 times out of 20, had all adult Canadian residents been polled. Questions asked of Albertans only (n=600) have a credibility interval of +/- 4.9 percentage points. Questions asked of Canadians outside Alberta (n=900) have a credibility interval of +/- 4.0 percentage points. 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.

For more information on this news release, please contact:
Darrell Bricker
Chairman, Ipsos Canada Public Affairs
+1 416 324 2001
[email protected]

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