The federal Conservatives are keeping a comfortable 10-percentage-point lead over their political opponents, nearly half a year after the party won a majority government, a new poll suggests.
The poll, conducted by Nanos Research for CTV and The Globe and Mail, shows the Conservatives are leading with 39 per cent support.
Meanwhile, the NDP have 29 per cent and the Liberals trail the frontrunners with 24.5 per cent support.
Regionally, party support echoes the results of the federal election, with the Conservatives leading in Ontario with 40.9 per cent support and the Liberals second with 31.9 per cent.
The NDP had 23.1 per cent of Ontario support.
In Quebec, the picture is much different:
- The NDP leads the pack with 43.7 per cent
- The Conservatives are second with 20.2 per cent
- Liberals trail with 17.9 per cent
- Bloc Quebecois sit at 14.4 per cent
In the West, the Conservatives continue to dominate, with 56 per cent support in the Prairies and 46.1 per cent in British Columbia.
Meanwhile, the NDP rank higher in the Prairies than they do in B.C., with 23.8 and 22.3 per cent, respectively.
In B.C., the Liberals have moved into second place, with 26.1 per cent support. But the party doesn't fare as well in the Prairies, however, with only 17.5 per cent.
The survey polled 1,210 Canadians of voting age between Sept. 25 and Oct. 2 of this year.
Of those polled, 968 identified themselves as committed voters, meaning the poll is accurate to within 3.2 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.
Jobs take centre stage
During last spring's federal election campaign, health care constantly polled as the most pressing issue for Canadians.
However, recent numbers suggest that the economy has surpassed the other issues.
Among those polled, the economy was listed as the most important national issue by 31.9 per cent of people.
Health care, meanwhile, polled at 28.2 per cent, with education and the environment trailing at 8 and 5.3 per cent respectively.
High taxes were the chief concern for 3.7 per cent of voters.
