Marijuana legalization, social safety net seen as positives; stances on immigration, inflation negatives
March 7, 2025 – Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is not getting much wind down time before he ends his term leading the country. Facing daily challenges from the Trump administration, Trudeau has been front and centre while his party selects a new leader. With his time as leader running out, Canadians are divided over the legacy he’ll leave behind, but united on many of the core issues upon which he will be judged.
New data from the non-profit Angus Reid Institute finds Canadians most likely to view marijuana legalization, COVID-19 response, and expansion of the social safety net through the Canada child benefit, dental care, and other programs, as the biggest accomplishments of Trudeau’s time in the nation’s top job. On the other end of the spectrum, they view immigration policy, handling of the inflation/cost of living crisis, and the federal carbon tax, as the biggest failures.
Overall, a majority (63%) of Canadians believe Trudeau tried to tackle the country’s biggest problems during his time in the prime minister’s office. But that majority is split as to whether he made progress on those issues (30%) or failed at ultimately addressing them (33%). One-in-five (22%) believe he actively worsened the issues the country is facing.
Amid this, one-quarter (26%) say they anticipate Trudeau being remembered as an above average prime minister, while the same number say he’ll be viewed as average. Others say he’ll be remembered worse, as below average (15%) or poor. These views are comparable to how Stephen Harper was looked upon as he left the post in 2015, with Canadian slightly more positive (+4) and negative (+4) about Trudeau than the former CPC leader.
Asked to describe what they’ll remember most about the near-decade that Trudeau led the country, the most common responses mention either the pandemic response or scandals like the SNC-Lavalin and WE Charity affairs.
About ARI
The Angus Reid Institute (ARI) was founded in October 2014 by pollster and sociologist, Dr. Angus Reid. ARI is a national, not-for-profit, non-partisan public opinion research foundation established to advance education by commissioning, conducting and disseminating to the public accessible and impartial statistical data, research and policy analysis on economics, political science, philanthropy, public administration, domestic and international affairs and other socio-economic issues of importance to Canada and its world.
INDEX
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Leaving with a divided legacy
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Successes and failures
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Successes – Marijuana, COVID-19, Ukraine, safety net expansion
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Failures – Immigration, inflation crisis, carbon tax
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Majority say Trudeau attempted to solve Canada’s biggest problems, but split on results
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Expectations from 2015 vs. assessments from 2025
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Trudeau’s legacy in Canadians’ own words
Leaving with a divided legacy
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau rode the enthusiasm of energized voters to a majority government in 2015 but likely did not foresee quite the level of challenge ahead. Trudeau was met with an adversarial American president in 2017 when Donald Trump took office and faced multiple significant domestic scandals involving ethical investigations – first with SNC-Lavalin and later with WE Charity. This, followed by a once in a century pandemic, and unprecedented animus from Canada’s closest ally as Trump returned in 2025.
Trudeau was able to guide the Liberals to two more minority governments after his 2015 victory but was unable to regain the favour of voters that he first enjoyed. Ironically, he may be currently enjoying the biggest boost to his public opinion profile since COVID-19, as Canadians rally around the “Team Canada” approach to American threats.
Asked how they will view Trudeau in history, Canadians offer a divided view.
One-quarter (26%) say Trudeau will go down as above average or better, while one-quarter say he’ll be viewed as right in line with others. Nearly half say he will be viewed as either below average (15%) or poorly (32%).
Nearly a decade ago, Canadians offered similar assessments to Trudeau’s predecessor. Fewer than one-quarter (22%) believed Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper would go down as an above average PM or better, while two-in-five (43%) believed assessments of Harper would be more critical:
As Trudeau readies to leave office, men of all ages are more likely than women of the same age to say the outgoing PM will be viewed negatively:
Trudeau’s legacy is believed to be more negative than positive in most regions of the country – aside from Atlantic Canada – though many in each region also feel he will be viewed as average:
Successes and failures
As with any prime minister, particularly those serving for multiple terms, there’s plenty of good and bad to look back upon. Angus Reid Institute asked Canadians how they appraised a number of signature policies and moments from the past decade, with the benefit of some hindsight.
Successes – Marijuana, COVID-19, Ukraine, safety net expansion
Starting with the positive, Canadians are largely praising of marijuana legalization. This was a key campaign promise and was implemented on Canada Day in 2018. Half (52%) say this was a success of Trudeau’s term, while 24 per cent say it was a failure.
While COVID-19 was a global challenge, Trudeau’s response domestically is viewed as a success by half (47%) of the public. A large minority (31%) disagree, exemplifying the charge this issue still holds among many. While many of the restrictions throughout the pandemic were led by provincial decisionmakers, the Liberal government implemented travel restrictions, sent out relief payments, and handled vaccine procurement. But he also proved polarizing to those who opposed COVID-19 restrictions after he called the truck convoy, which occupied Ottawa in protest of pandemic rules, a “fringe minority” – a comment which he eventually said he regretted. The first-time invocation of the Emergencies Act to clear those same protests also proved divisive.
Two other items are viewed by near majorities as successful – Trudeau’s handling of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, and the government’s expansion of the social safety net through the Canada Child Benefit, dentalcare, and other programs.
Failures – Immigration, inflation crisis, carbon tax
On the other side of the coin, Canadians view several key Liberal legacies in a negative light. First and foremost are changes to immigration. The Liberals increased immigration significantly compared to the targets under Harper and the Conservatives, setting a target of 485,000 new permanent residents for 2025, after steady increases from closer to 300,000 between 2015 and 2020. After these targets became a source of criticism from Canadians and the political opposition, the Liberals reduced the 2025 target by more than 100,000.
After COVID-19, Canada and much of the globe underwent significant inflationary challenges. And while the target inflation rate has come down to acceptable levels for the Bank of Canada, financial challenges continue to plague many Canadians. This ties directly in with another of the Liberals’ most negatively viewed policies – the federal carbon tax. That signature policy may not be long for this world, after both Liberal leadership front-runners joined opposition leader Pierre Poilievre in saying they would end the consumer tax if elected:
There is little enthusiasm to be found among those who would support the Conservative Party in a future election, but Trudeau is viewed as having successfully handled a number of issues by other party supporters:
Majority say Trudeau attempted to solve Canada’s biggest problems, but split on results
Taken altogether, most Canadians (63%) believe the Trudeau took on Canada’s biggest problems during his stint as prime minister. However, Canadians are divided as to whether he tried and failed (33%) or made progress to address those issues (30%). One-in-five (22%) believe he worsened some of Canada’s biggest issues.
Women older than 54, long a bastion of support for the prime minister, are most likely to believe he made progress on some of Canada’s biggest issues. Canadians under 35 are more likely than others to believe he tried to take on the issues but without success:
Expectations from 2015 vs. assessments from 2025
Canadians had high expectations when Trudeau secured a majority government for his first term in 2015. Majorities believed a Liberal government under his stewardship would have a positive impact on the federal government’s relationship with provinces (59%), infrastructure (57%) and Canada’s international reputation (55%). At least half believed democracy in Canada (50%) and the country’s approach to climate change (50%) would improve under Trudeau.
In fact, among the dozen areas Canadian respondents were asked at the time to assess, Canadians were more likely to be optimistic than pessimistic among 11. The exception was the country’s energy sector – Canadians offered mixed assessments with equal-sized groups of one-quarter expecting good things (23%) and bad (25%):
After nearly a decade of governance by the Trudeau Liberals, that initial optimism has given way to more criticism than applause. Majorities of Canadians believe the Trudeau era has had a negative impact on Canadians’ trust in the federal government (63%) and housing affordability (61%).
Canadians are also more likely to believe the Trudeau Liberals have harmed than helped the country’s energy sector (42% negative), infrastructure (32%), the economy (52%), relations with the U.S. (48%), the federal government relationship with provinces (43%), health care (37%), the job market (37%) and national unity (43%).
Reviews by Canadians are mixed when it comes to the Trudeau government’s effect on Canada’s international reputation, climate change, democracy in Canada and international trade opportunities:
Trudeau’s legacy in Canadians’ own words
In addition to survey questions to gauge some key legacy questions, the Angus Reid Institute also gave Canadians the opportunity to use their own words to describe what they will remember most from the Trudeau era. There are a vast array of both positive and negative sentiments. Here are a few examples:
“Appreciate the way he handled the pandemic. He represented Canada well internationally. He was treated unfairly by anti-vax people. Also appreciate the fact that he valued women within his party/caucus.” – Female, 55+, Atlantic Canada
“Out of control deficits, corruption and soft on crime” – Male, 35 – 54, Ontario
“He did well in crisis – COVID & tariffs, otherwise he was lacklustre” – Female, 35 – 54, Ontario
“His immigration policy was an abject failure. As an immigrant who moved here in 1993, I have never felt the level of animosity as I do now. It’s because he ruined an immigration policy that was steady and would bring in newcomers that would contribute to Canadian life.” Male, 35 – 54, Manitoba
“Legalizing Cannabis and Black face” – Male, 18-34, Saskatchewan
Overall, the most common theme for reflection among Canadians is the handling of COVID-19, while second most common is mention of scandal or corruption, such as WE Charity, SNC Lavalin, Black face, or others.
ARI used artificial intelligence to categorize each of the responses based on whether the language was positive and praiseworthy, negative and critical, or simply neutral and descriptive. Interestingly, COVID-19 mentions are divided between positive and negative in nature, with many Canadians appreciating the response, and others criticizing lockdowns and vaccine mandates. Half of those who mention leadership with respect to Trudeau praise him, while one-in-five are critical:
Survey Methodology:
The Angus Reid Institute conducted an online survey from March 4-6, 2025 among a representative randomized sample of 1,850 Canadian adults who are members of Angus Reid Forum. For comparison purposes only, a probability sample of this size would carry a margin of error of +/- 2 percentage points, 19 times out of 20. Discrepancies in or between totals are due to rounding. The survey was self-commissioned and paid for by ARI.
For detailed results by age, gender, region, education, and other demographics, click here.
For full release including methodology, click here.
For the questionnaire, click here.
MEDIA CONTACT:
Shachi Kurl, President: 604.908.1693 shachi.kurl@angusreid.org @shachikurl
Dave Korzinski, Research Director: 250.899.0821 dave.korzinski@angusreid.org
Jon Roe, Research Associate: 825.437.1147 jon.roe@angusreid.org
