Short answers to common questions about what's on the dashboard and how it's produced.
Are these predictions?
No. The rolling average, the trend arrows, and the seat projection are descriptions of what current polling says — not forecasts of what will happen. A two-point lead today is not the same as a two-point lead on election day.
Why do pollsters disagree?
Different methodologies — phone vs. online panels, different weighting schemes, slightly different question wording — produce small but persistent differences across firms. Same-week disagreements between two pollsters are typically a mix of sampling noise and house effects, not one firm being right and another being wrong.
How often is the data updated?
Polls are ingested as they publish; the rolling average recomputes on each ingest. The Insights cards (Economy, In Parliament, Donor Map, Media Temperature) refresh on a daily cadence. The dashboard re-renders hourly so fresh figures surface without a manual reload.
Where does the data come from?
Polls come from Canadian polling firms, each linked to its original publication. Economic indicators come from the Bank of Canada's Valet API (CPI sourced from Statistics Canada). Bills come from LEGISinfo on parl.ca. Donor totals come from Elections Canada's public open-data dataset. Every card states its source inline.
Why are only some provinces covered in detail?
The depth of provincial coverage tracks the depth of provincial polling. Provinces with frequent published polls (Federal, Ontario, Quebec, Alberta, BC) get the full set of cards; provinces with thin or stale polling fall back to a historical "last election" reference card to keep the surface honest.
What's the rolling average vs. an individual poll?
An individual poll is one pollster's snapshot of one sample at one moment. The rolling average is the weighted blend of recent polls — its job is to smooth across the spread of pollsters so any single outlier matters less. When the two diverge, neither is "wrong"; they're measuring different things.
Is MaplePolls affiliated with any party or government?
No. MaplePolls is an independent project. It is not affiliated with, sponsored by, or endorsed by any political party, polling firm, the Government of Canada, or the Bank of Canada. Pollster and source names appear as attribution only.
Last updated: 2026-06-05