The three major federal parties are in a tight race for the 16th day, with high volatility between Liberal and NDP support, according to the latest Nanos National Nightly Tracking for CTV and the Globe and Mail.

Voters were asked: "If a federal election were held today, could you please rank your top two current local voting preferences?"

The latest numbers show:

  • 29.6 per cent of respondents said they would pick the Conservatives as their top choice
  • 30.3 per cent would pick the NDP
  • 31.8 per cent would pick the Liberals

Meanwhile, 4.5 per cent said the Green Party would be their first choice, and 10.8 per cent were undecided.

The results show the three major parties locked in a tight race for the 16th-straight day.

But though the parties remain close, the latest numbers also show significant potential for volatility of cross-over support between the Liberals and NDP.

Of those who said they would pick the Liberals as their first choice, 49 per cent said the NDP would be their second choice.

On the other hand, 48 per cent of those who would pick the NDP first said they would pick the Liberals second.

In contrast, 46 per cent of those who favoured the Conservatives said they have no second choice.

Harper edges out Trudeau and Mulcair in preferred PM race

While the parties remained tied in nightly polling, another Nanos Research survey shows that Conservative Leader Stephen Harper has edged out Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau and NDP Leader Tom Mulcair as respondents' preferred prime minister.

The latest numbers also see Mulcair鈥檚 trend line for September hit a low.

When asked who Canadians would prefer as prime minister:

  • 30.2 per cent of respondents said they would prefer Harper
  • 27.2 per cent preferred Trudeau
  • 24.4 per cent preferred Mulcair
  • 5.5 per cent preferred Green Party Leader Elizabeth May
  • 10.8 per cent said they were unsure

Survey respondents were asked 鈥淥f the current federal political party leaders, could you please rank your top two current local preferences for Prime Minister?鈥�

Poll Methodology

A national dual-frame (land and cell) random telephone survey is conducted nightly by Nanos Research throughout the campaign using live agents. Each evening a new group of 400 eligible voters are interviewed. The daily tracking figures are based on a three-day rolling sample comprised of 1,200 interviews. To update the tracking a new day of interviewing is added and the oldest day dropped. The margin of error for a survey of 1,200 respondents is plus or minus 2.8 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.

Full poll at

Follow on Twitter