The federal Liberals have maintained their 10-point lead over the Conservatives, according to a new public opinion survey.

The poll by Forum Research found four in 10 respondents, or 39 per cent, would vote Liberal if the federal election were held today, while 29 per cent would vote Conservative. Twenty-two per cent favour the New Democrats.

“The Liberals have consistently been 10 points ahead and the Tories are boxed into their core vote,’’ says Forum Research president Lorne Bozinoff.

When you break out the latest numbers regionally across the country, the picture looks very promising for the Liberals, Bozinoff says.

In the Atlantic provinces, the Liberal lead is 61 per cent and the Conservatives are at 19 per cent. In Quebec the Liberals have 39 per cent support, compared to 18 per cent for the Conservatives.

In Ontario the Conservatives trail the Liberals 41 per cent to 29 per cent and in B.C. the Liberals lead 40 per cent to 32 per cent.

Support for the Conservatives is strongest in the Prairie provinces, including Manitoba/Saskatchewan and Alberta, where the Conservatives lead the second-place Liberals with 46 per cent support and 58 per cent support respectively.

Results based on the total sample of 1,764 voters are considered accurate plus or minus 2 percentage points, 19 times out of 20. The respondents were polled March 25-28 using an interactive voice response telephone survey of randomly selected Canadians aged 18 and over.

Similar to most pollsters, Forum uses a proprietary weighting formula — which has been shared with the Star — to more accurately reflect the broader electorate.