For the first time since the election call, a poll has the Conservatives on the verge of a majority win.

With just 24 days until the election, the federal Conservatives have 35.4 per cent support across the country, according to an Ekos poll conducted for La Presse newspaper.

Those numbers are as good as they were during the final weekend of the 2011 majority win. As of Thursday morning, the Liberals are nine points back with 26.3 per cent support, and just barely ahead of the third-place NDP. Only two points separate Justin Trudeau’s Liberals from Tom Mulcair’s New Democratic Party.

Stephen Harper’s Conservatives are enjoying huge support in Ontario, with 37 per cent support. That’s a full seven points ahead of the Liberals and 18 points ahead of the NDP.

The federal Conservative lead in Ontario could be tied to support for the provincial Progressive Conservatives, another poll found.

“A hint at the cause of the resurgence of the federal Conservatives can be seen when we look at the provincial voting intentions,” Quito Maggi, president of Mainstreet Research, said in a statement.

“The Progressive Conservatives (40 per cent) lead the Ontario Liberals (30 per cent) by 10 per cent among decided and leaning voters. Provincial issues have come in to play federally across Ontario including the proposed Hydro One sale, the sex ed curriculum and ongoing disputes with Teachers unions,” he said.

The Mainstreet survey has the federal Conservatives with 38 per cent support in Ontario, four points ahead of the Liberals and a full 18 points ahead of the NDP.

The polls come ahead of the first televised French language debate, which will be held on Thursday night. Harper, Trudeau, Mulcair, the Green Party’s Elizabeth May and Bloc Quebecois leader Gilles Duceppe will face off in Quebec.

Rival leaders will inevitably be gunning hard for Mulcair in the debate, hoping to shake the NDP’s seemingly iron grip on Quebec. And at least two, Harper and Duceppe, have already signalled that the explosive niqab issue will be part of their arsenal.

The federal election is Oct. 19.