More than four out of 10 Canadians would support cuts in spending and services to tackle the federal deficit, a new poll suggests.

Those polled were asked: "In your opinion, what should the Government of Canada's main approach to the deficit be for the coming year?"

While 46 per cent of respondents favoured cuts to services and spending, 14.1 per cent thought the government of Canada should raise taxes, and 10.4 per cent thought the government should continue to run a large deficit.

The findings are part of an EKOS poll released exclusively to CBC.

EKOS said 29.5 per cent of respondents didn't know what the government should do about the deficit or did not offer a response.

From April through November 2009, the federal government amassed a deficit of $33.9 billion. It is projected to hit about $56 billion by the end of the government's fiscal year on March 31.

Among Conservatives, spending cuts were the most popular approach to the deficit, with 56.2 per cent of them backing that option. The feeling was even stronger among Bloc Québécois supporters, at 66.6 per cent.

Even among supporters of the other opposition parties, cutting services and spending was the preferred route, though the percentages were much smaller. Support among Liberal Party backers for cutting spending stood at 37.7 per cent, while it was 35.7 per cent among NDP backers and 42.3 per cent among Green Party supporters.

Finance Minister Jim Flaherty will present his next budget on March 4. (Canadian Press) Liberals and New Democrats were also the most likely to prefer the government raise taxes, with 23.9 per cent of Liberal supporters and 22.3 per cent of NDP supporters backing that option. Only seven per cent of Conservative Party supporters favoured raising taxes.

Finance Minister Jim Flaherty is to bring down his next budget on March 4.

EKOS also asked respondents if they were aware that the Parliamentary Budget Officer has projected the federal deficit will be $19 billion by 2013.

About two-thirds of respondents claimed to be either vaguely aware of the report or clearly aware of the report. The remaining 33.5 per cent said they were not at all aware of the report.

The findings are based on a telephone poll of 3,006 Canadians conducted between Feb. 3 and Feb. 10. Based on that sample size, the survey has a margin of error of plus or minus 1.8 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.