The federal Conservatives and the NDP under new Leader Thomas Mulcair are statistically tied in national support, with the Liberals trailing in third, a new poll says.
The Tories have the support of 34.7 per cent of voters, while the New Democrats have 32.4 per cent and the Liberals 23.3 per cent, the Nanos Research monthly tracking poll found.
The Green party held the support of 4.2 per cent of voters and the Bloc Quebecois 3.9 per cent.
"While support for the Tories remained steady at the national level, the NDP was the main beneficiary, a likely consequence of the election in late March of (Mulcair) as party leader," pollster Nik Nanos said in a release Friday.
NDP national support increased 7.4 per cent since the last survey in February, while the Tories dropped one per cent and Liberals were down 6.2 per cent.
The New Democrats are up in every region of the country with their biggest gains in Atlantic Canada and British Columbia, largely at the expense of the Liberals who dropped 10 per cent alone in Ontario.
Regional support also dropped for the Liberals in Quebec, the Prairies and British Columbia. The Bloc also lost support in Quebec.
Leadership numbers tracked along similar lines in the Nanos poll with Prime Minister Stephen Harper still in top spot even though he dropped on the index compared to February.
Mulcair placed second, although Nycole Turmel was listed as interim leader of the NDP in the previous survey, and interim Liberal Leader Bob Rae was third and also dropped on the leadership index.
The index considers responses to questions of trust, competence and vision for Canada. Harper placed first in all three categories, with Mulcair in second and Rae in third.
The top issues for Canadians – jobs/economy and health care – are also statistically tied at 21.9 per cent and 21.6 per cent respectively.
"As the student protests over university tuition fees continue to dominate headlines in Quebec, the province has helped bring education into the spotlight, chosen by one in 10 Canadians as their most pressing issue of concern," Nanos said.
The poll is based on a random telephone survey of 1,200 people between April 13 and 18 and is considered accurate plus or minus 2.8 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.
