David Coletto

Early life

As a young man, David Coletto was often described as curious, passionate, and optimistic—traits that would shape his academic career, and ultimately guide him to pursue research and data analysis as his vocation. After obtaining his undergraduate degree, he attended Carleton University from 2004–2005, where he earned a master’s degree in political science. Following that, he attended the University of Calgary from 2006–2010, where he earned a PhD, also in political science. His dissertation research dealt with the local conditions present in a cross-section of Canadian elections, the qualities of the candidates who run in them, and how the interaction of these two factors affected electoral outcomes. His findings challenged the prevailing thought consensus that the results of all Canadian elections were dictated by federal politics rather than local politics.

Career

Once he had concluded his formal education in 2010, David Coletto founded Abacus Data, a full-service polling and research organization. He has acted as CEO since the company’s inception. Abacus Data is a full-service market and public opinion research agency, often cited as the foremost source for polling data and analysis in Canada. The company is credited with conducting some of the most accurate polling estimates during the 2011, 2015, 2019, and 2021 Canadian federal elections. Since 2023, David Coletto has served as chair of Abacus Data, in addition to his role as CEO. The company maintains offices in Ottawa and Toronto.

Since 2012, Coletto has also held the title of Adjunct Professor of Public Affairs at one of his alma maters, Carleton University. He teaches classes on polling public opinion, political marketing, and designing public affairs strategies within that institution’s Masters of Political Management program

David Coletto has advised elected officials and senior-level civil servants at the federal, provincial, and municipal levels on a vast array of issues. He has conducted in-depth research studies for corporations, professional associations, government agencies, and nonprofit organizations, such as Google, Toronto Dominion Bank, Interac, the Canadian Medical Association, the Government of Canada, Dairy Farmers of Canada, WorkSafe BC, Imperial Oil, BMW, and the LCBO, to name only a few. He is frequently asked to gather and interpret polling data on behalf of local, national, and international news outlets. Coletto is also the official pollster for the Toronto Star.

Peripheral to his work with Abacus Data, Coletto writes a regular column in The Hill Times, a news outlet that chronicles the ins and outs of Canadian politics. He is also the titular host of inFocus with David Coletto, a podcast showcasing Coletto’s skills as an interviewer, as well as his expert analysis of public opinion data and his unique insights and observations on the overall political and social climate.

When not tending to his responsibilities at Abacus Data or sharing his expert opinions in the media, David Coletto travels through North America and Europe delivering keynote addresses on the issues he has researched. Some of his notable speech topics include the housing crisis, changing attitudes toward immigration, and perceptions of governmental performance—with each supported by a wealth of polling information broken down into generational, gendered, racialized, and socio-economic data subsets.

David Coletto serves as a board member on the Ottawa Board of Trade, an organization concerned with economic development in the Greater Ottawa Region, and Ottawa Riverkeeper, an environmental nonprofit charged with preserving the Ottawa River. He is also a member of the advisory committee for the Canadian Global Affairs Institute and a member of the policy committee for Imagine Canada.

Net Worth

Unknown.