About EKOS Politics

We launched this website in order to showcase our election research, and our suite of polling technologies including Probit and IVR. We will be updating this site frequently with new polls, analysis and insight into Canadian politics. EKOS's experience, knowledge and sophisticated research designs have contributed positively to many previous elections.

Other EKOS Products

In addition to current political analysis, EKOS also makes available to the public general research of interest, including research in evaluation, general public domain research, as well as a full history of EKOS press releases.

Media Inquires

For media inquires, please contact: Frank Graves President EKOS Research Associates t: 613.235-7215 [email protected]

Recent Shifts in Public Outlook on Canada and the World

The following presentation was delivered by Frank Graves to the Canadian Global Affairs Institute on June 2, 2023. [More...]

Biden Envy?

[Ottawa – March 24, 2023] With U.S. President Joe Biden’s first official visit to Canada underway, we have seen a strong recovery in terms of the outlook on the U.S.-Canada relationship since change in administration. Just over half of Canadians (53 per cent) would describe the U.S.-Canada relationship as good, a two-fold increase over the final months of Donald Trump’s presidency. Meanwhile, just 11 per cent rate it as poor. [More...]

Polarization, Populism, and Evolving Public Outlook on Canada and the World

[Ottawa – January 17, 2023] The following presentation was delivered by Frank Graves to the Canadian Global Affairs Institute on January 17, 2023. [More...]

Canadians Favour More Integrated North America

[Ottawa – January 11, 2023] Nearly a majority of Canadians favour a more integrated North America, a new EKOS Research Study has found. [More...]

Public Attitudes to Ukraine Conflict by Vaccine Acceptance

This survey was conducted using EKOS’ unique, hybrid online/telephone research panel, Probit. Our panel offers exhaustive coverage of the Canadian population (i.e., Internet, phone, cell phone), random recruitment (in other words, participants are recruited randomly, they do not opt themselves into our panel), and equal probability sampling. All respondents to our panel are recruited by telephone using random digit dialling and are confirmed by live interviewers. Unlike opt-in online panels, Probit supports margin of error estimates. [More...]

Ordered Populism and Implications for the 2020 Presidential Election

The following presentation was delivered by Frank Graves to The Pollsters’ Survival Kit In The World of Trump, hosted by ESOMAR and the Canadian Research Insights Council on August 20, 2020. [More...]

Update on the Political Landscape and the Issues of Race, Policing, and the Three Ms in the Canada-China Affair

[Ottawa – June 26, 2020] As the COVID-19 pandemic continues, the Liberal Party is in full majority mode. At just under 41 points, the Liberals enjoy a wider lead today than on election night 2015, which saw the party win a decisive majority mandate. The Conservatives trail at 30 points and the NDP remains in a distant third place at just 13 points. [More...]

Directional Outlook and Public Response to Growing Iran-U.S. Tensions

[Ottawa – January 16, 2020] It has been a turbulent beginning to 2020. In particular, the heightened tensions between the United States and Iran have escalated dramatically, resulting in the tragic loss of Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752 and the deaths of 176 people, including 57 Canadians. In the first instalment of a broader poll looking at public outlook on key issues, we will look at the public response to this crisis. [More...]

Open versus Ordered

CULTURAL EXPRESSIONS OF THE NEW OUTLOOK

Please click here for the full report and data tables.

[Ottawa – October 10, 2017] There has been a fair bit of debate about whether the core drivers of the new populism are economic or cultural in nature. This latest version of what we used to call materialism or idealism is an important but unsolvable riddle at this point. Did economic stagnation and despair beget rising xenophobia and nativism or were these cultural expressions really the prime mover. Our sense is that both are equally important but the… [More...]

North America at the Crossroads

Inward or Outward?

By Frank Graves

This article was published in the September-October 2017 issue of Policy Magazine.

[Ottawa – September 1, 2017] Attitudes to trade wax and wane as the issue fades in and out of political discourse. We have now entered a moment where debates about trade are occupying centre stage in the political arena.

Attitudes to trade aren’t simply about how to create a more prosperous economy: they also reflect broader cultural orientations to the external world, groups from different racial origins, and attitudes to issues such as climate change. At no moment… [More...]

Canadians Respond to Surprising Victory of Donald Trump

LARGELY NEGATIVE REACTIONS, BUT CONSERVATIVES MAY BE SEEING A ‘TRUMP BUMP’

By Frank Graves

[Ottawa – November 25, 2016] As the dust settles on the rather unlikely victory of Donald Trump to the highest office in the world, Canadians are trying to make sense of what this new normal will mean for them, the country, and the world. They are also trying to grasp the best route forward for the federal government with a very different U.S. regime than expected. There is considerable anxiety about these issues but there is also some surprising resonance in some places.… [More...]

Fear and Hope: Understanding the National Mood

[Ottawa – July 23, 2016] The summer has seen an unusual amount of drama ranging from the shocking Brexit result through racial violence in the United States and a seemingly endless barrage of serial atrocities; most recently the horrific carnage in Nice. A coup attempt in Turkey and civil war in Syria all contribute to the sense of danger which seems endemic to our age.

We also see the American voters flirting with the idea of Donald Trump as President of the United States, and several analysts have drawn the common linkages between the Brexit vote… [More...]

How the Yawning Chasm across Conservative and Progressive Canada Masks the Real Prospects for Harper’s Conservatives

RECONSIDERING THE ROLE OF VALUES AND EMOTIONAL ENGAGEMENT

[Ottawa – September 11, 2015] Over the past week there has been an outpouring of reactions to the Syrian refugee crisis that run from concern to horror. The searing image of the drowned three year old pushed the issue to the centre of media attention at a critical time – in the midst of a federal election campaign. The ensuing reaction to this has been a pretty broad sense that Stephen Harper’s Conservatives were emphatically on the wrong side of this and that it would have a catastrophic impact on… [More...]

Fractured Country Produces Tight and Unpredictable Race

NDP EMERGING AS THE HOME FOR THE MOST DISAFFECTED WITH INCUMBENT

[Ottawa – August 14, 2015] Nothing definitive has emerged from this week’s polling. The race remains very tight with the NDP having plateaued, but they are still hanging on to a slight lead over a pretty moribund Conservative Party. The Liberals are showed some signs of life and may be closing the gap somewhat.

We saw that the debate did generate attention and impacts but the effects dissipated as we got further away from that event in time. But the debate did have at least… [More...]

Rethinking the Public Interest: Evolving Trends in Values and Attitudes

By Frank Graves

[Ottawa – October 2, 2014] Influential thinkers, organizers, policy developers and business leaders have gathered to discuss what we can accomplish as a nation at this year’s Canada 2020 conference. To open the conference, Frank Graves presents brand new public opinion data on the major policy challenges facing Canada.

Click here for the full story of how evolving trends in values and attitudes are causing our political leaders to rethink the public interest: Public Record – Canada 2020 conference – Polling Presentation (October 2, 2014)

Click here for a PDF version of… [More...]

Choosing a Better Future? – July 26, 2013

PUBLIC PREFERENCES ON LONG-TERM TRAJECTORY SHIFTS

Click here for the full report: Full Report (July 26, 2013)

[Ottawa – July 26, 2013] Consider the long term future from the perspective of the average Canadian. The short term outlook doesn’t look that bad. Fears of job loss are much lower than in the nervous nineties. The economy may have been basically stagnant since the September 11th attacks, but hey, we aren’t Spain, let alone Greece. But this might be the end of the good news. The same mythical average Canadian has experienced essentially zero real growth in income… [More...]

ALMOST NOBODY LIKES THE NEXEN DEAL – December 7, 2012

GOVERNMENT FACES COLLISION WITH PUBLIC OPINION IN ANNOUNCING GO-AHEAD

[Ottawa – December 7, 2012] – A recent EKOS poll of 1,181 Canadians showed tough sledding ahead in selling the CNOCC offer to Purchase Nexen. While there is still flexibility in public opinion, the strength of current opposition will be a huge problem for those seeking to move forward. Barely 15% of Canadians support the deal with a picayune 3% supporting it strongly. On the other hand, 73% oppose with the plurality (42%) strongly opposed. Twelve per cent don’t know what their position is.

Even in Alberta, support only… [More...]

AN INCREASINGLY DIVIDED OUTLOOK – March 20, 2012

RETHINKING CANADA’S PLACE IN THE WORLD

Click here for the study results presented to the 2012 Walter Gordon Symposium in Public Policy: 2012 Walter Gordon Symposium Presentation (March 20, 2012)