Leger Poll: 54% of BC Says the Province Is on the Wrong Track — And Eby's Support Is Crumbling

The numbers are in — and they are not good for David Eby.

Leger Research's latest BC Government Report Card, released in April 2026, shows the NDP's political standing at its most precarious point in years. A full 54% of British Columbians say the province is heading in the wrong direction. Only 37% believe it is moving the right way. The rest aren't sure.

That 4-point gap between the NDP and the BC Conservatives is razor-thin. In a province where the NDP won its second mandate with a comfortable lead just months ago, the collapse in public confidence is striking. Leger describes the NDP's current advantage as “narrow” and the political race as “highly competitive and far from settled.”

Eby's Approval: A Strength Turning Into a Vulnerability

Premier David Eby still outperforms his Conservative counterpart in raw approval numbers — sitting at 43% approval according to the April poll. But the trend line is the story, not the snapshot.

Leger notes that disapproval has increased significantly over the past several months, and that perceptions of Eby's leadership have become “more negative over time.” The polling firm describes the trend bluntly: Eby's leadership, once the NDP's greatest asset, “may no longer provide the same cushion against broader public concerns.”

That is a significant shift. The NDP's entire re-election strategy has rested on Eby's personal brand — the idea that voters may distrust the party but trust the man. If that cushion is deflating, the party has no obvious fallback.

What Is Driving the Discontent?

Leger identifies three dominant concerns pulling BC voters away from the NDP:

These are not new issues. They are the same issues the NDP has been promising to fix since 2017. Nearly a decade later, the polling says British Columbians have stopped believing the promises.

Housing: Billions Spent, Crisis Deepens

Under Eby, the BC government has introduced a wave of housing legislation — short-term rental restrictions, density mandates, the Housing Supply Act, and billions in new spending. Yet the Leger poll confirms what renters and buyers already know: the affordability crisis has not been solved.

Metro Vancouver remains the second least-affordable major housing market in the world by some measures. Rents have softened slightly from their 2023 peak, but the fundamental problem — not enough housing at prices ordinary British Columbians can afford — remains unchanged.

The NDP has had seven years, multiple housing ministers, and billions of dollars. The majority of the province says the answer isn't working.

Health Care: Cancelled Projects and a Strike on the Horizon

The health care picture is similarly bleak. The NDP's 2026 budget quietly “re-paced” — a word the government now prefers to “cancelled” — multiple hospital and long-term care construction projects across BC. Burnaby Hospital Phase 2. Seven long-term care projects on Vancouver Island. Infrastructure that communities have been waiting years to see built.

At the same time, BC Nurses Union (BCNU) members voted for a strike mandate in May 2026, citing a breakdown in contract negotiations and the government's attempt to claw back benefits through arbitration. Frontline health care workers — the people voters most associate with a functional health system — are at the edge of a labour dispute.

The Deficit: "Blowing It to Smithereens"

BC's fiscal record was once a point of pride. The province ran successive balanced budgets under both the NDP and its predecessors. That era is over. The 2026-27 budget projects a $13.3-billion deficit. The year after: $12.2 billion. Multi-billion deficits are now projected as far as the fiscal plan extends.

Globe and Mail columnist Gary Mason, writing this spring, described Eby as having taken BC's “relatively sterling fiscal track record and blown it to smithereens.” The Leger poll suggests ordinary voters agree.

What the Polls Mean

A 4-point lead is well within any margin of error. A single major crisis — a prolonged nurses' strike, a DRIPA court decision that spooks property owners, another high-profile cancellation — could tip the balance.

The NDP won its second mandate in October 2024 in part because the BC Conservatives were seen as an unknown quantity. That novelty factor is gone. Rupert Bonner's Conservatives have had time to build name recognition and policy credibility. The 40% they're polling today — with momentum heading into the next cycle — is a serious number.

For the first time since Eby took over, the polling data suggests the NDP's grip on government is genuinely uncertain. The question British Columbians will ultimately answer is whether things have gotten better — or just more expensive, more complicated, and less honest about what's being cut.

On the wrong-track question, 54% have already answered.