MONTREAL - People whose provinces receive equalization payments are largely in denial about living in have-not regions, a poll suggests.

New Brunswickers were the only exception, according to a Leger Marketing survey for the Association for Canadian Studies.

The poll was provided exclusively to Postmedia Network.

Equalization is aimed at "addressing fiscal disparities among provinces."

Ottawa will pay $17.3 billion, unconditionally, to six have-not provinces for the fiscal year that began on April 1. They are; Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, Quebec, Ontario and Manitoba.

However, respondents in five of the six have-not provinces tended to agree that "my province gives more money to the federal government than it receives in equalization payments."

Those deepest in denial in the Feb. 9-11 poll were Ontarians, by a wide margin.

Forty-eight per cent insisted their province paid into the pot when, in fact, it did not.

Ontario became a "have-not" province for the first time under the Liberals in 2009-10. This year the province will get just under $2.36 billion.

Jack Jedwab, of the Association for Canadian studies, says people in Canada's most populous province are still adjusting to the new reality.

"The perception of Ontario is 'we're the largest province in the country, historically, we were a fair contributor.'"

Next door in Quebec, a longtime have-not province, there appears to be increasing discomfort about equalization.

Some Quebec politicians, including separatists, have said the province needs to wean itself off of the federal bosom.

"Nobody feels good about saying that they get more than they give in general, so there's that stigma that's attached to it," said Jedwab.

Newfoundland and Labrador, Saskachewan, Alberta and British Columbia are the four provinces that pay into the equalization program.

Albertans were by far the most likely to understand their province gives more than it gets at 79%.