A new Angus Reid Institute poll released on Friday has revealed that the number of Albertans proud to be Canadian has fallen off a cliff over the past eight years.
The decline in the pride of being Canadian was seen across the country, with 52% of respondents saying they were “very proud” to be Canadian back in 2016. The same question was asked this year, and that number plummeted by 18 points to sit at 34%.
The proportion of Canadians who say they are either proud or very proud of their nationality has dropped heavily from 79% to 58% over the past eight years.
Alberta saw the second largest drop in the country with a 25-point decline in being proud to be a Canadian, only bested by Saskatchewan with a drop of 28 points.
In 2016, a whopping 83% of Albertans were proud to be Canadian, which as of this year, has nosedived to 58%.
Angus Reid Institute
A pride expressed by at least four in five in every province in 2016 is now reported by at most two-thirds in any part of the country, the Angus Reid Institute added.
In 2016, 62% of Canadians said they had a deep emotional attachment to Canada. In 1991, that mark was three points higher at 65%. Now in 2024, it is 13 points lower at 49%.
Back in 2016, when Albertans were asked if they had a deep emotional attachment to Canada, 67% of respondents said yes. Flash forward to 2024, where just 47% said yes, a drop of 20 points over the past eight years, and the second lowest in the country after Quebec.
Angus Reid Institute
The Angus Reid Institute conducted the online survey from November 29 to December 5, 2024, among a representative randomized sample of 4,004 Canadian adults who are members of the Angus Reid Forum.
The new poll comes on the heels of another that showed Alberta leading the country on whether Canada should become the 51st US state.