The yearly study on Canadian public opinion on immigration has been issued by the Environics Institute, a Canadian research organization that gathers data on social, political, and economic topics and conducts public opinion polls.
According to the research, Canadians’ outlook for the nation and the economy has deteriorated during the previous 12 months. It states that they don’t think the government can adequately prepare for upcoming difficulties. This encompasses the apparent difficulties brought forth by immigration.
The nonpartisan Century Initiative, whose goal is to put policies and initiatives into place that would bring Canada’s population to 100 million by the year 2100, collaborated with the Environics Institute.
Every year, a survey is carried out to find out how Canadians feel about immigration and refugees. It is based on 2,002 Canadians who were interviewed over the phone between September 4 and September 17, 2023. Results from a sample this size taken from the population are accurate to within 2.2 percentage points.
Results
This year, Canada’s population crossed a significant milestone—40 million. This is a rise of more than a million individuals in a single year. 96% of the population growth is attributable to migration outside. According to some survey participants, this is a role in Canada’s overburdened healthcare system and dearth of reasonably priced homes.
Notwithstanding these problems, the survey observes that, similar to previous years, relatively few respondents named immigration or refugees as the nation’s biggest issue. According to it, a sizable portion of Canadians continue to think that immigration boosts the country’s economy.
According to the research, Canadians are more worried about how many immigrants there are in the country than they are about the immigrants themselves. They are more inclined to agree, as with the 2022 study, that immigration improve their communities.
Environics comes to the conclusion that media narratives about a housing crisis, rather than local developments or firsthand experience, are more responsible for Canadians’ current worries about immigration’s impact on housing.
A surplus of immigrants?
In response to the question, 4 out of 10 respondents very or somewhat strongly agreed that immigration to Canada is excessive. This represents a 17 percentage point increase above the figures from 2022. From a different angle, though, that indicates that 6 out of 10 did not feel that way.
However, since monitoring started in 1977, this is the biggest year-over-year shift noted for this question. The responders from Ontario showed the most shift, with 50% of them now agreeing with the assertion.
Men, first-generation Canadians, Canadians in the highest income categories, and British Columbia all showed comparable findings.
Furthermore, it was found that 64% of homeowners who are concerned about their property’s affordability are probably in agreement that there is too much immigration in Canada.
Statistics are influenced by politics as well. The study discovered that party affiliation affects Canadians’ opinions on immigration, just as it did in previous years. For instance, the percentage of Conservative party supporters who think there is too much immigration is 64% (up 21 points from the previous year), yet it is only up 11 points to 29% among liberal followers and 9 points to 21% among NDP supporters.
Why the alteration?
Three-quarters of those who agree that immigration affects housing availability and/or cost are against the concept that Canada takes in too many immigrants. Comparing this to 2022, it is 23 points more.
A portion of the participants hold the view that immigrants are detrimental to the economy and job market (25%) or a drain on public funds (25%). Others worry about population growth (19%) or think the government is not managing immigration well (10%).
Notably, a higher percentage of Canadians (down from 16%) in 2022 thought that immigration posed a danger to Quebecois or Canadian culture, identity, and values. Few people were found to be against the amount of immigrants attending Canadian universities and colleges as students or to think that immigrants pose a threat to public health or security.
endorsement of immigration levels
When asked if more immigration is necessary for Canada to grow its population, respondents’ opinions were split equally between those who agreed and those who disagreed (47% each).
This is the first reduction in agreement since 1993 and signifies an 11 percentage point drop since 2022.
First-generation Canadians (down 16 points), people in Ontario, and those in the highest income group (down 18 points) showed the greatest fall in support for welcoming more immigrants.
People who reside in rural areas, are from Alberta, have no post-secondary education, and support the Conservative party are also less likely to think that immigration is necessary for Canada.
Economic growth and immigration
The majority of Canadians believe that immigration boosts the country’s economy. But the data indicates that there is a little less conviction in immigration’s beneficial economic effects than there was a year ago.
The majority of Canadians agree (38%) or somewhat (36%) think immigration boosts the country’s economy. This indicates that agreement is at its lowest position since 1998 and is a decrease of 11 points from 2022.
Similar to earlier research segments, the least amount of support was found among federal Conservative Party members (63%) and homeowners who are extremely concerned about the affordability of housing (59%).
Immigration enhances Canada’s quality of life.
When asked if immigrants improve their community, more than 42% of Canadians said that they do, despite the fall in support for immigration levels.
British Columbia (51%) and Atlantic Canada (49%) had the most favorable answers. It was also high among university-educated Canadians and federal Liberal and New Democratic party members.
Supporters claimed that this was the case because they recognize the significance of immigrants’ contributions to variety and multiculturalism, as well as their assistance to the local economy and population growth.
Canada’s affordable housing market
The research is released at a time when the affordability issue is plaguing most of the world, including Canada. This especially applies to housing. The Canadian Real Estate Association reports that the average cost of a home in Canada is currently higher than $650,000.
Comparing the results to the 2022 report, almost 70% of Canadians said they disagreed or strongly disagreed that immigration numbers in Canada were too high. This was the highest level of support for immigration since the annual survey’s inception 46 years prior.
Furthermore, according to the 2022 Environics survey, just 15% of participants said immigrants were raising the cost of homes and making them unaffordable for other people.
More Canadians, according to Environics 2023, “see this happening on the ground in their own communities,” despite the fact that “very few” still link immigration and the housing issue. The institute thinks that rather than being a result of more immigrants entering the country, this response is more closely related to the larger problem of a loss of trust in the economy.
Plan for Immigration Levels, 2024–2026
The Immigration Levels Plan, which outlines goals for the number of permanent residents admitted to Canada over the next three years, is released annually by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC).
On November 1st, at the latest, the Levels Plan for 2024–2026 is anticipated to be unveiled.
In order to prepare ahead and make sure that there is enough infrastructure in place to provide immigrants with the support they need, such as housing, healthcare, and settlement services, the Canadian government sets immigration objectives. All of this while juggling the demands of the existing Canadian population.
The IRCC set Canada’s highest-ever immigration objectives in the 2023–2025 plan, with the goal of adding 500,000 new permanent residents year by the end of 2025.
Immigration Minister Marc Miller stated to Bloomberg News in August that he does not believe the objectives for 2024–2026 would be less than they are at the moment. The minister believes that immigration is a vital instrument for bolstering the Canadian economy.
According to census data from 2021, immigrants make up 23% of Canada’s population; by 2041, this number is expected to climb to 34%.