OTTAWA — The NAFTA controversy has done nothing to diminish Barack Obama's popularity with Canadian voters, a new poll suggests.

In fact, a Harris-Decima survey suggests Canadian support for the U.S. Democratic presidential candidate has skyrocketed in recent months and that he dominates his rivals.

The survey suggests Canadians of every age group, political stripe and gender prefer the rookie senator over his adversaries, Democrat Hillary Clinton and Republican nominee John McCain.

When asked which of the three candidates they liked most, respondents preferred Obama over McCain by an almost five-to-one margin - 39 per cent to eight per cent. Even among self-declared Conservatives, Obama had almost double McCain's support.

Obama also had a nine-point edge over Clinton, his rival in the Democratic primary. That is a drastic turnaround from January, when the better-known Clinton had an 11-point lead among Canadian poll respondents.

That hypothetical landslide is in stark contrast to polls from the United States, which suggest a close presidential race.

And the results are despite Obama and Clinton's promise to renegotiate NAFTA, which is popular with Canadians and a key pillar of the national economy.

Obama's popularity was highest in Ontario and especially in Alberta, where he held a 23-point lead over Clinton.

He also led among all age groups, but his support was double that of Clinton's among respondents under age 25 - 54 per cent to 27 per cent.

Obama had a huge lead among male respondents - 44 per cent to 25 per cent - but also held a one-point lead among women. Only four per cent of Canadian women support McCain, the poll suggests.

Obama also led with self-declared Conservative voters - 36 per cent of whom expressed support for him, while 31 per cent supported Clinton and 19 per cent supported McCain.

When asked who they thought would win the presidency, 44 per cent said Obama, 19 per cent said McCain, and only 17 per cent predicted there would be a second Clinton in the White House.

"The momentum for Senator Obama that became evident over recent months in the U.S. is now showing up in Canada," said Harris-Decima president Bruce Anderson.

"Not only is he now preferred by more Canadians than the other two candidates, Canadians believe a Democrat will win the White House and that Senator Obama will be that Democrat."

The poll of 1,000 Canadians was conducted from April 3 to 6, and is considered accurate within plus or minus 3.1 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.