8-in-10 Canadians believe immigration is helping Canada’s economy
A new survey of public opinion on immigration shows the number of Canadians have a positive view of immigration grew between April and October.
Since the previous survey Environics Focus Canada Institute in April, public disagreement with the statement “Overall, there is too much immigration to Canada” increased from 59 percent to 63 percent in October – the highest level since 2008.
Just over a third of Canada agreed with the statement, 34 percent, which is unchanged since April.
The Environics Institute interviewed 2008 Canada between October 7 and 20 October in the face of the Canadian federal election on October 21.
“A growing majority of Canadians reject the notion that their country was receiving too many immigrants,” the survey found. “This view is due in part because eight out of ten believe that immigration is helping the Canadian economy.”
The survey found support for immigration strengthened in most countries, with increases seen in Atlantic Canada, meadows and Quebec.
In Atlantic Canada, 71 percent of respondents did not agree that Canada is taking too many immigrants.
The young Canadian, women, people with higher education levels and more financially secure are the most likely to hold a favorable view of immigration.
The institute said the negative opinion of immigration more widespread among the people “is concerned about potential job loss in their household.”
The negative opinion is also more pronounced among the supporters of the Conservative Party of Canada, with 51 percent said immigration is too high compared with 45 percent who disagree.
New Democrats are the most likely to hold a positive view of the level of immigration Canada, with 79 percent say there is too much immigration to Canada.
Liberal Nearly 3 in 4 (74 percent) also expressed support for the current Canadian immigration levels, followed by 69 percent of Green Party supporters and 64 percent of the Bloc Quebecois.
Economic benefits of immigration
Fully 80 percent of Canadians agree with the statement that “overall, immigration has a positive impact on the Canadian economy.”
The Environics Institute said the results matched the highest level recorded over the last 25 years.
Only 16 percent of respondents disagreed with the statement.
The belief that immigration has a positive economic impact is reinforced by seven points since April in Atlantic Canada, where 82 percent of respondents shared this view.
British Columbia is a close second, with 84 percent of respondents said that immigration has a positive economic benefit, a view shared by more than three-quarters (76 percent) of respondents in both the pasture and Alberta.
The majority of supporters of all major federal parties also agree with this view, ranging from 90 percent to 68 percent of voters Liberal conservative voters.
Concern that immigrants aren’t adopting Canadian values drops in Quebec
Canada continues to hold concerns about the integration of immigrants into Canadian society, with 50 percent of all respondents agreed with the statement that “there are too many immigrants who come to this country that did not adopt the values of Canada.”
These results, however, fell one percent in April and the lowest level recorded since the question was first included in the Focus Canada survey in 1993.
More than 40 percent of respondents disagreed with the statement.
Ironically, the latest findings of Environics Institute showed agreement with the statement dropped six points to 50 percent in Quebec, where the provincial government announced last week that it would begin enforcing the value test would-be immigrants in January.
“In Quebec … public opinion about immigrants is as positive if not more than in other parts of the country,” the survey found.
In terms of political party affiliation, conservative voters are the most likely to hold the view that immigrants do not adopt the values of Canada (73 percent) compared to only 36 percent of supporters of the Liberal Party and 34 percent of NDP voters.
Just under 60 percent of Bloc Quebecois supporters (59 percent) agreed with the statement, but this was down eight percentage points over April.
Acceptance of racialized immigrants
To the statement “Canada accepts too many immigrants from racial minority groups,” 64 percent of Canadians do not agree.
The Environics Institute noted that people in same-dominated disputes that do not agree that Canada is allowing too many immigrants.
“This reflects a significant shift in public attitudes since the 1990s when the majority of Canadians agree with the statement,” the agency reported.
The view that Canada accepts too many immigrants from racial minority groups is most evident among respondents without a high school diploma and those with a household income of under $ 30,000 CDN.
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