Mayor Rob Ford’s return to city hall after a two-month leave of absence to seek help for substance abuse issues has done little to boost his sagging popularity, according to a new poll.

The Forum Research telephone poll of 1,182 residents has determined that Olivia Chow continues to lead the mayoral race with 36 per cent support while John Tory has jumped into second place with 27 per cent support and Ford has fallen into third with 26 per cent support. David Soknacki (four per cent) and Karen Stintz (three per cent) round out the field.

Ford is down one point from a poll conducted ahead of his return on June 23 while Chow is up two points and Tory is up three points.

Ford’s overall approval rating also took a hit, dropping one point to 31 per cent. Tory had an approval rating of 63 per cent (up two points) and Chow’s approval rating remained at 57 per cent.

"One would expect to see a ‘dead cat bounce’ in his ratings created by the mayor's return, but that has not been the case,” Forum Research President Dr. Lorne Bozinoff said in a press release accompanying the poll. “On the other hand, we may be seeing the beginning of Ford fatigue, in which the constant controversy is just being tuned out by most Toronto voters.”

Majority don’t think apology was satisfactory

On Monday, Ford delivered a speech to a select group of reporters in which he admitted to being an alcoholic and apologized for some of the things he has done and said while under the influence.

Ford, however, did not take questions following the speech and has sat down for only two interviews to discuss his struggles since, including one with CP24 on Wednesday.

According to the poll, about 61 per cent of respondents watched or listened to Monday’s apology, but only 34 per cent of them found it to be satisfactory while 60 per cent did not find it satisfactory and 3 per cent had no opinion.

Furthermore, the poll found that only 34 per cent of respondents believe Ford can be an effective mayor given his struggles with alcoholism while 61 per cent said he will be ineffective as a result.

The number of respondents who want Ford to resign ahead of the Oct. 27 election also rose four points to 62 per cent.

The poll, which was conducted Wednesday, is considered accurate to within 3 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.

@chrisfoxnews is on Twitter. Remember for instant breaking news follow @cp24 on Twitter.