A new opinion poll shows that most Canadians – and many former Liberal supporters – believe that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau should resign instead of leading his party into the upcoming federal elections.

56% of participants in the latest opinion poll conducted by Abacus Data said that Trudeau "should step down" when asked if he should run for Prime Minister again.

This is compared to 27% who said that Trudeau should stay, and 17% were not sure.

Among those who said they voted for the Liberals in the 2021 federal election, 28% agreed that it is time for Trudeau to leave, while 52% said the Prime Minister should run again.

20% of those who identified as Liberals said they were unsure whether Trudeau should stay in his position.

The survey was conducted between August 18 and 23 and included 2,189 adults with data weighted by age, gender, education, and region.

The results are considered accurate with a margin of error of plus or minus 2.1 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.

David Coletto, CEO of Abacus Data, stated that the numbers indicating that many Canadians want to see the end of the Trudeau era "should be a shock" to many Liberals, who continue to trail the Conservatives led by Pierre Poilievre in Abacus polls and other national surveys.

Coletto said, "If they think they’ve hit rock bottom, they may not have hit rock bottom yet, and it could get worse before it gets better."

According to the latest poll conducted by his company, 38% of participants said they would vote for the Conservatives if an election were held today, compared to 26% for the Liberals; Coletto noted this exceeds their last poll as the worst level of support for the Liberals since then.

It is worth mentioning that Trudeau has been Prime Minister since 2015.

The poll also showed the New Democratic Party garnering 19 percent support, ahead of 4 percent each for the Green Party and the far-right People's Party.

Another trend Coletto saw in the results – which he said should be another worrying sign for the Liberals – is evidence that Canadians are feeling warmer towards Poilievre.

34% of participants said they have a positive impression of the Conservative leader, an increase of four points from the previous Abacus poll at the beginning of the month.

Coletto said he believes this shows that the Conservatives' efforts to create positive impressions of Poilievre – who is routinely attacked by Liberals as a controversial politician trying to stoke anger for his own gain – have succeeded.

He pointed to a recent TV ad narrated by Poilievre’s wife, Anaida, which portrays him as a caring and hardworking family man.

Coletto said, "I don't think it's a coincidence that his positives have gone up by four points," noting that the Liberals may need to do more to counter Poilievre's rising popularity.

He explained, "The assumption that people will turn against him and view him as extreme or unacceptable ... that's not going to happen naturally."

Coletto added that the political landscape painted in this poll could change, and the Liberals have not lost everything, as they still have around 45 percent of participants willing to consider voting for them.

But he said the danger is that the current dynamics will solidify more sustainable impressions of both Trudeau’s Liberals and Poilievre’s Conservatives.

He explained, "At some point, can these views become so entrenched that there’s nothing (the Liberals) can do to change them?"

He added, "That’s the question they need to ask themselves."