Albertans least likely to believe their province's economy will improve

Albertans don’t have high hopes for their economy.

A recent survey from the Angus Reid Institute found that, out of all of Canada’s provinces, respondents from Alberta were the least likely to believe that its own economy would improve, and most likely to believe it will actually worsen.

The online survey was conducted between November 8 and 12 to a randomized sample size of 1,510 Canadians, and it found that 79% of Albertan respondents thought that Alberta’s economy would get worse over the next 12 months.

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That’s well above the average of 43% and more than three times the amount that said similar in Quebec, which was the only province to see a higher belief in improvement to their economy.

Angus Reid Institute

Albertans were also the most likely of all respondents to be concerned that “I or someone in my household could lose a job because of the economy” at 34% strongly agreeing and 30% agreeing.

Quebec, and then BC, saw the lowest percentage of respondents believing similar for their own provinces.

A similar survey was conducted in January 2016, and while Alberta was still the most worries about losing jobs to a bad economy, the percentage of those who agree has actually jumped by 7% since then, from a total of 57% three years ago to 64%.

Angus Reid Institute

The survey also found that only 8% of Albertan respondents felt that their standard of living would be better a year from now, while a total of 52% believed it would be worse — the most drastic differential that the province has ever seen in similar studies dating back to 2010.