After a year like no other, Abacus Data has released their final poll of 2020, comparing how Canadian views on politics and economics have changed over the course of the year.

The poll shows that more Canadians approve of the job performance of the federal government now than they did back in January.

45 per cent approve, up seven points from January, while 36 per cent disapprove—down six points.

The impression of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has also improved since the beginning of the year, rising four points to 39 per cent, up from 35.

When the year started, Andrew Scheer was the leader of the federal Conservatives and was viewed negatively by Canadians according to Abacus Data. The new Conservative leader, Erin O’Toole, finds himself with negatives much lower than Scheer, while his positives are also slightly higher at 22 per cent in comparison to Scheer’s 19 per cent.

Abacus Data says if an election was held at the time of the survey, the Liberals would hold a slight advantage nationally.

The Liberals are ahead of the Conservatives by three points (35 per cent to 32 per cent) while the NDP is in third. Compared with January, there has been almost no change in national voter intention.

The survey was conducted with 2,200 Canadian adults from December 14 to 18, 2020. The margin of error is 2.1 per cent, 19 times out of 20.