Maybe it’s our massive natural barrier of the Rockies, or maybe it’s just that everyone’s jealous of our weather, but one thing is for certain, BC is officially the loneliest province in Canada.
When the Angus Reid Institute asked residents across the country how their province’s relationship was with the rest of Canada, BC was considered lonely by both British Columbians and others throughout the nation.
“British Columbia appears relatively isolated in the federation of Canadian provinces,” reads the report. “Three-in-ten say their province has a close relationship with Alberta – the highest number chosen among B.C. residents – but four-in-ten (43%) say their province doesn’t have any especially close relationships.”
In contrast, the other three provinces that make up Western Canada (Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba) all reported as being close with one another.
“In each of the other three western provinces, just one-in-five residents say they view B.C. as having a close relationship to their own – a far cry from the strong connection voiced between the three other western provinces to each other.”
BC not alone in feeling lonely.
As far as the majority of Ontario residents are concerned, no province holds a particular affection for them, and the feeling is mutual.
If Ontario had to pick one province as a friend, one-in-five residents chose Alberta as being the friendliest towards them. Meanwhile, Ontario gets the most love from their neighbours to the east, where four-in-ten Quebecers considered them to be chummy.
But Quebec’s not going to win any popularity contests either. According to the report, “No region of the country views Quebec as friendly to their province at a proportion higher than one-in-ten.”
BC Tensions
When questions in the report changed from “friendly” to hostile, our next door neighbours in Alberta considered BC to be particularly unfriendly, and the feeling was shared.
In total, 57% of Albertans and 26% of Saskatchewan residents reported that BC was unfriendly towards their province.
Meanwhile, almost half of all British Columbians at 47% thought that Alberta was unfriendly towards BC, while 12% of residents thought that Saskatchewan was surly.
“These findings reveal a nation with massive differences of opinion regarding which provinces work well together, which are at odds, and which are benefiting or suffering more given their place in the federation,” says the institute.
The study uses responses from 4024 Canadians across the country.
