After a lively first leader’s debate last week, the gap between the leading NDP, the Conservatives and the Liberals has tightened to suggest a three-way race, according to a new poll.

The Ipsos poll, which was commissioned by Global News, reached 2,022 Canadians across the country in the immediate days after the Aug. 6 debate, between Aug. 7 and 10.

The survey found the NDP lead the pack with the support of 33 per cent of respondents; the Conservatives have 31 per cent while the Liberals have 28 per cent.

The Green Party and the Bloc Quebecois have four per cent support a piece. Nine per cent of respondents said they are undecided while four per cent said they don’t intend to vote or will spoil their ballot.

Of those who watched the debate, 26 per cent said Liberal leader Justin Trudeau won the face-off while 25 per cent said NDP leader Tom Mulcair won and 21 per cent said Conservative leader Stephen Harper won. Twenty per cent said Green Party leader Elizabeth May won.

In Ontario, respondents put the Conservatives and Liberals in a tie with 33 per cent support each. Across the country, the Conservatives continue to sit well ahead in Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba. The NDP lead in British Columbia and Quebec, while the Liberals are ahead in the Maritimes.

Echoing earlier polls, two thirds of respondents said they felt it was time for a change in government, compared with 31 per cent of respondents who agreed that “the Harper government has done a good job and deserves re-election.”

Twenty-five per cent of respondents said they are considering voting for a party they have never voted for before.

More than 80 per cent (83) of respondents indicated they strongly or somewhat agree that Conservative leader Stephen Harper should participate in the national broadcast consortium debate, something his party says he will not do. Since then, Mulcair has said he will not participate in any debates that don’t include Harper.

Sixteen per cent of respondents said Harper should not participate, while one per cent didn’t know.

The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 2.5 per cent, 19 times out of 20. It involved 1,000 live telephone interviews (including 400 respondents reached on cell phone) and 1,022 online interviews.