The gap in voters’ support for Doug Ford and John Tory has widened threefold in the latest Forum Research poll released Thursday that shows Ford slipping while Olivia Chow’s approval rating rises.

Tory has the support of four in ten voters, or 39 per cent, in the Toronto mayoral race. This number is the same as the last Forum Research poll on Oct 6. While Tory and Ford were almost neck-and-neck in that poll, Ford is now six points behind at 33 per cent.

The interactive voice response telephone poll surveyed 1241 Toronto voters on Wednesday, Oct. 15 and has a margin of error of 2.8 per cent.

Tory was at his strongest toward the end of September when he was polling at 43 per cent, but his support base has dropped slightly and stayed steady since then. He has been the frontrunner in the race since August when he overtook Chow.

Chow, who is still in third place at 23 per cent, saw her position in the polls drop drastically in August, but it has been climbing up in small increments throughout September and October.

The poll shows that Tory’s support is strongest in the old Toronto and East York among voters aged 65 and over, while Ford is just as popular in North York. The two competitors are statistically tied in Scarborough at just under 40 per cent in this area.

Chow also enjoys most of her support in the old Toronto and East York at 36 per cent. People most likely to vote for her tend to be between the ages of 18 and 44, according to the poll.

In addition to being asked who people would vote for or who they are leaning toward if they hadn’t made up their minds, respondents were also asked if they approve or disapprove of each of the three leading candidates individually.

Approval ratings for Tory, Ford and Chow are 55, 40 and 46 per cent, respectively.

A comparison to previous Forum Research polls, which have been held approximately twice each month since June, shows that Tory’s approval rating has been steadily declining. Just a month ago, his approval rating was almost 10 points higher.