Is this a blip for the NDP, or something that will sustain until the federal election in October?

The Liberals, Conservatives and NDP are now locked in a dead heat in terms of popular support, according to a new public opinion poll by Forum Research.

The survey, conducted Tuesday and Wednesday, has the Conservatives and Liberals at 31 per cent and the NDP at 30 per cent — a three-way tie, factoring in the poll’s margin of error.

That’s a huge jump for the New Democrats, who for the past several months have been hovering around just over 20 per cent support. The Liberals and Conservatives continue to remain neck and neck in Forum’s polls during that same period.

The Conservatives saw the sharpest decline in support since the last poll last month — down from 35 per cent.

Forum president Lorne Bozinoff attributes the New Democrats’ sudden rise in fortunes to NDP premier-designate Notley and her party’s election victory in Alberta on May 5.

“It is clear the Notley victory in Alberta has shaken up the federal political scene,’’ Bozinoff said in a statement.

“Conservatives (and Liberals), who used to park their disaffected votes with the Greens have now been given ‘permission’ to vote for the NDP if they are unhappy with their own party, and it appears many of them are,” Bozinoff added.

In Ontario, one of the anticipated battleground provinces for October’s vote, the Conservatives have a slight lead with 36 per cent support, compared to the Liberals at 34 per cent and the NDP at 26 per cent.

If these results are projected up to seats in a 338-seat House of Commons, the Conservatives would capture a minority with 131 seats. The NDP would remain the official opposition with 111 seats and the Liberals would see 95 seats, Forum says.

A total of 1,286 randomly selected Canadians aged 18 and older participated in the interactive voice response telephone survey.

The results are considered accurate plus or minus 3 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.