Calgary Mayor Jeromy Farkas narrowly bested a crowded field in the 2025 municipal election. After six months in office, a new Probe Research survey shows Calgarians strongly approve of the job he and his councillor colleagues are doing thus far.
Eight in 10 Calgarians strongly or somewhat approve of Farkas’ performance with nearly three-quarters giving high marks to their local councillor and nearly seven in 10 praising the work of city council as a whole. Farkas’ approval is high throughout Calgary but is especially high in the northwest and among older voters. Despite the partisan division within Calgary and across Alberta, both United Conservative Party (UCP) and Alberta NDP supporters give the new mayor high marks for his performance to date.
Calgarians are relatively optimistic about where things are heading in their city. Nearly six in 10 Calgarians think their city is going in the right direction. Calgarians’ views on the direction of their city is more optimistic than how they feel about the direction of the province, the country or the broader world. UCP and NDP supporters are also generally positive about the direction Calgary is heading, with men and older adults also more optimistic than others about Calgary's path forward.
Pocketbook and public safety concerns dominate the issue agenda. More than one-quarter of Calgarians express concerns over the cost of living, with 13 per cent specifically concerned about housing costs in their city. The same proportion identify crime and public safety as their biggest concern, with poverty and homelessness mentioned by 12 per cent of Calgarians. Infrastructure, unemployment and taxation round out some of the major concerns on the minds of Calgarians.
Methodology
Probe Research conducted an online survey with a representative sample of 595 Calgary adults between April 27 and May 6, 2026.
All respondents were recruited from a national online panel (LEO). The sample has been weighted slightly by age, gender, region and educational attainment so it properly reflects Alberta’s population, based on Census data. The totals calculated in this report are based on weighting back oversampled groups to the correct proportions within the overall population.
Because an online survey is a sample of convenience, no margin of error can be ascribed. For the purposes of comparison, a probabilistic sample of 595 would have a margin of error of ± 4.0 percentage points, 19 times out of 20. The margin of error would be higher within each of the survey’s population sub-groups.
The survey instrument was designed and paid for by Probe Research.
About Probe Research
Probe Research is one of Canada’s leading public opinion and market research firms, serving as an indispensable insights partner to clients and communities throughout the country.
The Probe team blends the traditions of social science and journalism to help clients better understand the world around them – asking the most insightful questions and using storytelling skills to make data come to life and drive strategic decision-making.
All research conducted by Probe Research is based on responses from real human respondents. Probe Research is a member of the Canadian Research Insights Council (CRIC) and complies with its Public Opinion Research Standards.
Read coverage of this poll on Live Wire Calgary here.
