The Conservatives are starting off the summer with a hefty lead in the polls over the New Democrats, an advantage that one pollster says may be the result of a "honeymoon effect."
A new poll conducted by Nanos Research on behalf of CTV and The Globe and Mail puts the Conservatives at 41.8 per cent support nationally, with the Opposition New Democrats sitting behind them at 28 per cent.
The third-ranked Liberals hold 22.3 per cent support, placing them well ahead of the Green Party (3.7 per cent) and the Bloc Quebecois (3.4 per cent).
Almost one in five voters surveyed by Nanos said they were undecided in their support.
Pollster Nik Nanos said the Conservatives were seeing some of their highest support yet among decided voters, holding "a comfortable lead west of the Ottawa River."
However, the New Democrats remain the front-runners in Quebec with 40 per cent support, where they hold 59 of the 75 seats within the province. They are followed by the Conservatives (24.3 per cent), the Liberals (19.1 per cent), the Bloc (13.8 per cent) and the Greens (1.9 per cent).
Harper gets high marks for leadership
Nanos Research also asked Canadians about how they felt about the federal party leaders.
About one-third of survey respondents (32.3 per cent) said Prime Minister Stephen Harper was the most trustworthy leader, putting him ahead of Opposition Leader Jack Layton (29.4 per cent), Interim Liberal Leader Bob Rae (8.4 per cent) and Green Party Leader Elizabeth May (1.3 per cent).
Nearly four in 10 people considered Harper to be the most competent leader (38.5 per cent), when compared to Layton (24.1 per cent), Rae (10.4 per cent) and May (2.3 per cent).
When asked which leader had the best vision for Canada's future, 33.7 per cent of respondents picked Harper, who drew more support than Layton (28.4 per cent), Rae (8.5 per cent) and May (4.5 per cent).
The new Nanos poll marked the first time that Canadians were asked about Rae, who was only appointed as Liberal leader late last month.
Nanos Research contacted a random telephone survey of 1,211 voting-age Canadians between June 16 and June 19.
For the decided voters, the poll is considered accurate within 3.1 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.
For the leadership questions involving all 1,211 respondents, the poll is considered accurate within 2.8 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.
