VANCOUVER—It turns out there’s something to the saying “West Coast best coast.”

A majority of British Columbians feel more attuned to their southern American neighbours than to their Canadian counterparts, according to a new online survey by Angus Reid Institute.

The survey of 4,024 Canadians conducted in late December and early January showed 54 per cent of British Columbians felt they had the most in common with Washington state, while 18 per cent picked California and just 15 per cent chose Alberta.

The results do not surprise James Raymond, who has worked on several Cascadia-wide projects at the Vancouver Economic Commission.

“Vancouver is the most American city outside of America,” said Raymond, head of research and analysis at the commission.

A 2016 study by the Federal Assistance Voting Program in the United States found there were more Americans in Vancouver than any other city in the world, with 183,155 registered U.S. voters in 2014.

The Cascadia region takes its name from the Cascade Mountains, which run from British Columbia in the north to California in the south.

Vancouver likes to compare itself to Cascadian cities like Seattle and Portland, Ore., Raymond said, adding that it recently overtook Portland as the most bicycle-friendly city in North America.

Shared progressive values, especially around the environment, are one of the reasons why Vancouverites have a greater affinity toward Seattle than Calgary, Edmonton and even Toronto, he said.

Raymond’s research shows there are more flights from Vancouver to cities in Washington and California than to those in Alberta.

That connection may only deepen if state and provincial governments are able to build a long-awaited high-speed train to connect Vancouver to Seattle to Portland.

And while B.C. may consider itself more closely aligned with the U.S. than Alberta, it appears the feeling is mutual. The Angus Reid survey showed 35 per cent of Albertans left B.C. out when asked to define Western Canada, said Sachi Kurl, executive director at the Angus Reid Institute.

Some of the recent divide is born from pipeline politics, with the Alberta government incensed over the B.C. government’s effort to halt the Trans Mountain expansion project over environmental concerns. Alberta sees the multimillion-dollar project to bring oil to the B.C. coast for export as its economic salvation.

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Kurl, who describes herself as a “born and raised West Coaster,” said the divide between B.C. and the rest of Canada has been growing since 1991, when 50 per cent of BC respondents said they had more in common with Washington.

The lack of shared identity in Canada’s western-most province is not necessarily at crisis levels, but it points to a crack in national unity, she said.

“It shows we [in Canada] are held together more by a handshake than a hug.”

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