New poll shows growing distrust for Pierre Poilievre among Conservative voters

Pierre Poilievre has had a rough year. It's not an opinion, it's a fact.

In April 2025, Pierre Poilievre's Federal Conservatives held a massive 20-point lead over the helmless Liberals after Justin Trudeau stepped aside amid a tenure marred by political infighting. It seemed as though the April 2025 election would be a slam-dunk for the Conservatives. Pierre Poilievre was at the height of his popularity to start 2025, and with Trudeau's popularity numbers in the toilet, it was Poilievre's race to lose.

Lose he did, failing to garner the support of Canadians in the months leading up to the election. Poilievre's style of ‘mini-Trump politics' had created unrest in the country, and Canada was swinging towards the right with confidence, right up until Donald Trump threatened to invade the country. Poilievre, who had long been using the comparisons between him and Trump to his advantage, was now faced with a country that unanimously hated the American president. Mini-Trump politics weren't going to work for Poilievre, not after Trump had threatened the country.

While Poilievre went into a tailspin, the Liberals finally put together a seemingly confident campaign. Led by Mark Carney, former Governor of the Bank of Canada and England, as well as former UN special envoy on climate action and finance. Carney made waves with his first round of speeches, coming down hard on Donald Trump and assuring Canadians that he sees Trump as a malicious force in need of being mitigated. This is where Poilievre's failures began. He didn't come out against Trump, and didn't show Canadians that he would be willing to fight for the country. Poilievre's seriously lacklustre resume in Parliament also became a central topic. Investigations showed how Poilievre voted against union workers more than 500 separate times in his 20-year career. What's more, is that in 20 years, Poilievre has only successfully had one bill passed into law, a shocking lack of production for a career politician.  

All of Poilievre's missteps culminated in him losing his seat in the riding of Carleton, Ontario. The riding had never swung Liberal before 2025, and Poilievre had controlled the riding for the entirety of its electoral history. Pierre Poilievre's constituents in Carleton were done with the Conservative leader, and after the election was confirmed on April 28, he was left without a seat, and with a party in freefall, though he would win a safe conservative seat in a byelection in August 2025.

Since Carney's election, he has been playing a game coined by the CPC. He eliminated the carbon tax, passed strict laws on refugees and immigration, and made it clear his focus was economic, not socially driven like a Liberal leader may be expected to be. His actions have resulted in CPC voters and politicians slowly but surely switching sides, with Carney now owning a majority government after four CPC MPs crossed the floor to join his party. With the Liberals now enjoying a majority government, another failure has been added to Poilievre's list.

Poll shows growing distrust, but not yet a disaster

A poll released by the Angus Reid Institute on April 20, 2026, showed the growing unrest among CPC voters, with faith in Poilievre's leadership slowly sinking. The poll surveyed 1,646 Canadians, including 590 who voted Conservative in last year's election. Among CPC voters polled, 57 per cent claimed Poilievre should stay on as leader into the next election, down from 68 per cent last August. An 11 per cent dip in just 12 months is significant, with only 75 per cent of CPC voters claiming to have a favourable view of Poilievre, and 20 per cent claiming to have a very unfavourable opinion on the leader. Both of those numbers are the worst of his career, with 75 per cent being his lowest approval rating, and 20 per cent being his largest disapproval rating.

The rest of the poll is not favourable to Poilievre. According to the Angus Reid Institute, a whopping 30 per cent of CPC voters want Poilievre replaced, a number high enough to raise serious questions in the caucus. With Conservative MPs abandoning ship while citing disagreement with leadership, it seems as though Poilievre is tanking his party. In 2024, Pierre Poilievre was one of the most popular Conservative leaders of all time. Now, just two years later, nearly a third of his voters want him gone, and his MPs have left, giving Mark Carney the majority that the CPC worked so hard to avoid. In addition to his voters feeling disenfranchised by his decisions, Canadians overall are seemingly done with Canada's ‘mini-Trump', with Poilievre owning an impressive 60 per cent unfavourable rating from all Canadians polled.

With Poilievre's future in Parliament seemingly on shaky ground, the CPC leader is going to have to commit to yet another rebrand, especially if he hopes to regain the support of female voters, whom a meagre 28 per cent showed favourable views of in December 2025, before Poilievre's fall from grace.

The Conservative leader has some work to do in the coming months if he wants to secure his legacy in Canadian politics.