A Canadian polling firm has sent Premier Doug Ford a legal letter demanding he corrects the record after Ford claimed the organization published a “fake” public opinion survey showing the premier’s personal approval rating at a record low level.
The Angus Reid Institute’s quarterly cross-country temperature check of premiers’ approval ratings revealed Ford has dropped to 21 per cent support, making him the least approved of provincial leader in the country.
Asked about the poll on Tuesday, Ford claimed it was “fake,” suggesting it had been based on the views of opposition politicians.
“They put this fake poll out. They poll the NDP and Liberal caucus,” he said at an unrelated event in Thunder Bay.
The premier went on to claim the firm’s polling methodology involved going into a “hardcore NDP neighbourhood” to ask its questions.
“It’s little games, and then you guys run with it,” he said.
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The comments didn’t sit well with the non-profit polling firm, which immediately issued a statement saying it stood by its research and methodology and noted that Ford “did not express a problem” with its polling when it showed positive results for him.
On Thursday, Global News learned the firm sent Ford’s office a letter demanding a retraction.
“I confirm the existence of a legal letter sent to Premier Doug Ford,” President Shachi Kurl said in a statement.
“Angus Reid Institute stands by its work and its long record of independent, non-partisan public opinion research. We do not intend to litigate this issue in the media, but we do believe the public record should be corrected.”
The Premier’s Office did not respond to a request for comment.
While Angus Reid’s numbers garnered headlines, the company’s polling is part of a larger trend.
Since early 2026, Ford’s Progressive Conservatives have been experiencing a steady decline in public support as the party entered its eighth year in office.
Public opinion polls, on average, show the PC with 40 per cent support — enough to win another majority government, but with tighter margins.
Polls have also shown the leaderless Liberals catching up to and, at times, beating the PC Party as voters started considering alternatives to the government party.
On Friday, a Liaison Strategies poll found Ford’s PCs sit at 35 per cent support, while the Liberals are at 38 per cent and the NDP at 22 per cent.
The slump in numbers was compounded by the government’s decision to exempt the premier and cabinet ministers from freedom of information laws, Ford’s legal battle to keep his personal cellphone records private and his decision to buy a $28.9 million Challenger 650 jet to accommodate his travel.
On Tuesday, the premier said the poll that had him as Canada’s least popular premier was simply wrong.
“I’ll tell you the reason we’d win another massive majority: because we’re creating jobs, we aren’t raising taxes, we’re putting money into people’s pockets,” he said.
