A majority of Canadians say members of Parliament should not be allowed to cross the floor to another party and should face an “immediate” byelection if they do so, a new poll suggests.
However, Wednesday’s Ipsos poll conducted exclusively for Global News found Canadians’ displeasure with floor-crossing MPs has not hurt the overall approval for Prime Minister Mark Carney or his Liberal government.
In fact, those approval numbers have gone up since last year, with over one-third of Canadians saying they are even more supportive of Carney after three MPs left the Conservatives to join the Liberals in recent months.
“They’re prepared to punish the individuals who do it (cross the floor), but not necessarily prepared to hold it against the leaders of the parties that promote it,” said Darrell Bricker, CEO of Ipsos Public Affairs.
“And it has not created a stronger desire for an election.”
The poll was conducted late last month, after Alberta MP Matt Jeneroux became the latest Conservative to cross the floor of the House of Commons — bringing Carney’s Liberals even closer to a majority government.
Nova Scotia MP Chris d’Entremont became the first to abandon the Official Opposition in November, followed a month later by Ontario MP Michael Ma.
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has accused all three of his former caucus members of betraying their voters, noting they ran under the Conservative banner in last spring’s federal election.
The Ipsos poll found 62 per cent of Canadians surveyed believe MPs should not be allowed to switch parties after an election, while nearly 70 per cent said crossing the floor should trigger an immediate byelection in the MP’s district.
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Roughly a quarter of respondents agreed strongly with both statements.
Just 41 per cent said they were comfortable with their own MP switching parties, with only 10 per cent strongly agreeing. The numbers were higher among Liberal voters and Canadians aged 18 to 34.
Despite that disapproval, 64 per cent said it is likely that enough MPs will end up switching to the Liberals in order to give Carney a majority government.
Asked if the three recent floor-crossings make them more or less approving of Carney, 37 per cent of Canadians said they were more approving and 23 per cent were less approving.
Those numbers flipped when the same question was posed about Poilievre, while around 40 per cent said their opinion had not changed for either leader.
Carney, Liberal approval rises
Ipsos found both Carney and the Liberals are continuing to enjoy broad support, with the party widening its lead over the Conservatives to eight points.
Forty-four per cent of Canadians surveyed said they would vote for the Liberals if an election were held tomorrow, up four points from December, while the Conservatives fell one point to 36 per cent.
Just eight per cent said they would choose the NDP, down one point, while the 31 per cent support the Bloc Québécois would garner in Quebec translated to seven per cent nationally, down two points. The Green Party was up one point to three per cent.
Among the party leaders, Carney was the only one to see more approval than disapproval among those surveyed, with 58 per cent voicing support and 33 per cent against. The approval number is up 10 points from when Ipsos polled Canadians during the federal election campaign.
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“The honeymoon continues,” Bricker said. “In fact, it gets sweeter every day.”
Nearly half of Canadians disapprove of Poilievre, meanwhile, which is seven points more than those who approve of the Conservative leader. However, his 41 per cent approval is up six points from last year.
All other federal party leaders saw more Canadians voice disapproval than approval in the Ipsos poll. That includes NDP interim leader Don Davies, whose party is set to choose a new permanent leader at its convention in Winnipeg later this month.
Canadians remain split over whether they want to return to the ballot box this year, but the poll suggests they are souring on the idea: 37 per cent said they want another federal election, down three points since December.
Those who don’t want another election this year shot up six points to 44 per cent, while 19 per cent said they don’t know.
Two-thirds of Conservative voters said they want a new election, while a plurality of younger voters and men were more likely to say the same.
These are some of the findings of an Ipsos poll conducted between February 25 and 26, 2026, on behalf of Global News. For this survey, a sample of 1,001 Canadians aged 18+ was interviewed online. Quotas and weighting were employed to ensure that the sample’s composition reflects that of the Canadian population according to census parameters. The precision of Ipsos online polls is measured using a credibility interval. In this case, the poll is accurate to within ± 3.8 percentage points, 19 times out of 20, had all Canadians aged 18+ been polled. The credibility interval will be wider among subsets of the population. All sample surveys and polls may be subject to other sources of error, including, but not limited to coverage error, and measurement error.
This should not be allowed. We’re bordering on an autocratic society, dictatorships and power-hungry politicians.
Another reason to seperate Alberta out
For all they people that said people voted for the person not the party all that means is the candidate misrepresented themselves as having Liberal or Conservative views just to get votes in other words they conned the voters
If this practice is allowed to continue there is no point in having an election because the politicians will decide which party will be in power and democracy will be dead
Canada’s Prime Minster should not be condoning any MP who betrays Canadians by crossing the floor to a party that voters didn’t vote for. It’s seems Canadian politicians and the Prime Minister have no ethics any more. There should be automatic by-elections held so the Canadian voters can have the candidate they want.
Canadian Politicians have no integrity, values or commitment. They are lazy ,corrupt ,fence sitters.Actors of fiction.Just like the rest of the Politicians of the world.
Some people vote for the person and others strictly vote for the party. So yes, there should be a by-election
Walter White
Their crossing the floor for financial gain, it’s a slippery slope when we allow this to happen without a by election. It’s a total affront to democracy.
They’re traitors whose heads need to be opened up by a few well placed rounds.
That’s ridiculous! Immediate by-election is NOT necessary or desirable. That individual was elected to represent the best interests of the local candidates electoral base. If you didn’t believe in that individual, then stand behind he or she, regardless of party affiliation. Let’s not be the US where politics is so polarized based on party.
Of course. This is the only logical recourse.
If i elect party A and he crossed to party B that is a fundamental affront to democracy if there is not an instant byelection. Especially in the last 2 years when we typically vote for the party or even a leader through our local candidate.
Don’t blame the ones crossing the floor, blame the one leading them (or not leading) as they are crossing the floor for a reason.
What Canadians? The 3 you asked on the corner in Alberta?
Canadians need to take a civics lesson to better understand representative government and the parliamentary system. Canadians also need to vote in higher numbers rather than complaining after the elections.
And make the political party they are going to, pay for it. And while we’re at it, the Conservatives should have footed the entire bill for the bye election that snuck Polievre back into parliament
This country is dying in many ways besides economic, because of millions or mo ron Liberal voters the last 11 years. Speaking of economics, the GDP shrank last quarter. It’ll probably happen again Q1 2026, and then we’re in a recession.
And make the political they are going to to , pay for it.
People are voting for a person…if that person changes parties for any reason people still voted for that person.
So 70% of people are asking for byelections for the floor crossers, and the ones against it are the ” Liberal voters and Canadians aged 18 to 34″ (the only ones in the country young and dumb enough to eat up the medias biases). I wonder if anything is going to be done about this or if instead we will just shovel out more money to whatever country asks next. The fact this is allowed in the first place is an embarrassment and a betrayal of democracy, who woulda guessed Corrupt Carney is endorsing and encouraging it…
I agree 100 %
I think an immediate by election should be called to make it fair for voter representation. Its nothing but a slap in the face for all voters on both sides when this garbage happens.