According to a new poll, Premier David Eby’s popularity has taken a nosedive compared to his provincial counterparts.

The Angus Reid Institute finds Eby’s approval rating has dropped 16 points since last year, while Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew remains among the highest in the country.

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Last March, most premiers “enjoyed a bump in popularity,” the institute’s report says, when “nationalism surged” due to tariffs and threats of annexation from U.S. President Donald Trump.

“Eby was approved by a record-high of 53 per cent of British Columbians. Now, just 37 per cent say the same,” it explained.

Stewart Prest, a UBC political science lecturer, says the poll results were to be expected after Eby’s government tabled the 2026 budget, which he says “went over like a lead balloon.”

Prest says few British Columbians found anything to like about the budget.

“It seemed like it was, more or less, a placeholder without any of the hard decisions that this moment seems to be requiring. And so we had a little bit more in the way of taxation. We had significantly more in the way of budget deficit, and also some challenges to services. So there was no good news at all in the budget in any form, even for those looking for a tighter belt in these times,” he explained.

To regain favourability in the polls, Prest says Eby and the BC NDP have their work cut out for them.

“And that does include aspects of the budget and some of the long-term challenges with regard to health-care and education,” said Prest.

But, he and the Angus Reid Institute both agree that much of Eby’s decline stems from his handling of the “hot-button” issue of land claims.

“Eby has been embroiled in controversy over his role in the federal government’s land agreement with the Musqueam Indian Band. Eby initially claimed that he didn’t know the details of the agreement, though it was later noted that he sat front row at the signing ceremony and that his government was briefed on the agreement in the weeks prior,” the Angus Reid Institute explained.

Prest says Eby needs a less reactionary approach to the issue and must struggle to reframe it to the public while “under water” in the polls.

Eby could regain popularity, Prest says, with a stronger, forward-thinking budget.

“You have to show that even if the numbers aren’t balancing right now, there’s a clear path to get there in the not-too-distant future to make the province ready to survive and thrive in these uncertain times. And I think that the premier won strong marks last year for signalling awareness of the seriousness of the situation and how the province is facing a new kind of normal with the changes south of the border, but acknowledging the problem’s not the same thing as having a clear solution.”

The Angus Reid Institute’s poll ranks Eby seventh out of the 10 premiers, ahead of only Ontario’s Doug Ford and Quebec’s François Legault.

The poll’s results come from an online survey conducted between March 11 and March 17, 2026, among a randomized sample of 4,005 Canadian adults. The results for B.C. have a margin of error of plus or minus four per cent.

—With files from David Nadalini