Nanos Tracker: Encouraging Signs for Lewis?
It's early. It's modest. And the NDP remains well behind its rivals. But could the latest tracker data offer signs of optimism for New Democrats?
The latest Nanos Research tracker update, based on interviews conducted from May 1 to 22, 2026, measures Liberal support at 41%, down one point from last week and, more notably, four points lower than Nanos’ previous four-week wave.
The Conservatives remain stable at 33% nationally, while the NDP stands at 13%.
That 13% figure matches the New Democrats’ best showing in the Nanos tracker since last year’s election.
Over the past year, Nanos has generally been somewhat more favourable to the NDP than most other polling firms. The tracker has regularly placed the party in double-digit territory since the start of the year, whereas firms such as Léger, Abacus Data, and Ipsos have not measured NDP support above 9% nationally since the election campaign.
Still, this morning’s update contains another encouraging sign for New Democrats: Avi Lewis reaches 7% in Nanos’ preferred-prime-minister tracker, his highest score since winning the party leadership in late March.
The 7% figure is also the strongest result recorded for an NDP leader in the Nanos tracker since March 2025, just before the party’s campaign collapse.
Of course, these numbers remain modest by historical standards, and there is not yet enough evidence to speak of a genuine “Lewis effect.” One data point does not make a trend.
Nevertheless, it is worth monitoring whether Lewis can gradually rebuild the party’s standing. When he took the reins of the NDP two months ago, the NDP leader option stood at just 3% in the preferred-prime-minister tracker. Today, it sits at 7%.
Click here to access the charts for this week’s Nanos update, or here to read the public Nanos report.
More to come this week.🍁