Premier Doug Ford’s approval rating has bounced back to its highest level in a year, according to a new poll.
The results of the Angus Reid survey provide a more optimistic outlook for Ford’s government ahead of June’s election, following the publication of another poll earlier this week in which only 37 per cent of respondents said that they approved of the job the premier was doing.
The Angus Reid poll, which was based on the response of 1,063 adult Ontarians, suggests that 43 per cent of respondents either strongly or moderately approve of the job Ford is doing compared to 55 per cent who disapprove. A further two per cent of respondents said they weren’t sure.
Ford’s approval rating still places him among Canada’s least popular premiers, ahead of only New Brunswick’s Blaine Higgs (36 per cent), Alberta’s Jason Kenney (30 per cent) and Manitoba’s Heather Stefanson (25 per cent).
But he is up 13 points from the last time Angus Reid asked the question in January and now has his highest approval rating since March 2021, when 50 per cent of Ontarians supported the job he was doing.
Ford’s approval rating, as surveyed by Angus Reid, hit a high of 69 per cent shortly after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 but had been on the decline for most of the past two years.
Earlier this week Ford was asked whether he would consider moving up the election currently scheduled for June 2 but dismissed that possibility.
The Angus Reid survey was conducted online from March 10-15 and is considered accurate to within two percentage points, 19 times out of 20.
