Virtually six in 10 Canadians consider Canada accepts too many immigrants, survey says
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Public assist for the variety of newcomers coming into Canada has declined for the second consecutive yr, in response to a brand new nationwide survey, simply as Justin Trudeau’s authorities will get set to announce its new immigration targets.
Virtually six in 10 Canadians consider Canada accepts too many immigrants, the survey of roughly 2,000 folks in September stated, a rise of 14 share factors from final yr and 31 share factors from 2022.
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“For the primary time in a quarter-century, a transparent majority of Canadians say there may be an excessive amount of immigration,” stated the report printed on Thursday by analysis group Environics Institute and Toronto Metropolitan College’s Range Institute, with assist from Century Initiative, a charity.
The change in angle is probably the most fast over a two-year interval since 1977, when the group’s researchers began asking the query of whether or not there may be “an excessive amount of immigration” in Canada. It is usually the most important proportion of Canadians since 1998 who stated there may be an excessive amount of immigration.
The survey was launched two weeks forward of the discharge of the federal authorities’s annual Immigration Ranges Plan, which estimates the variety of everlasting residents who will probably be admitted within the coming years. The present plan is to simply accept 500,000 newcomers in every of 2025 and 2026.
However Immigration Minister Marc Miller late final month stated he was exploring the choice of lowering that quantity resulting from declining job vacancies, rising unemployment — particularly amongst newcomers and youthful folks — and rising considerations about affordability.
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“There’s actually a world now wherein we see reductions,” he stated.
If the targets for everlasting residents are lowered, it is going to be consistent with a number of the cuts Miller has made with respect to short-term residents up to now yr.
In March, he introduced a cap on short-term residents for the primary time, with the purpose of reducing down the quantity to 5 per cent of the general inhabitants by 2026, from about 6.5 per cent presently.
Immigration performs a key position within the nation’s economic system, with newcomers accounting for greater than one-third of the workforce in industries similar to lodging and meals providers, transportation and warehousing, and the skilled, scientific and technical sectors, in response to Statistics Canada. The nation’s getting older inhabitants is one more reason why there’s a excessive reliance on immigrants.
About 68 per cent of the respondents within the Environics survey stated immigration has a constructive impression on the economic system, however that’s six and 15 share factors decrease than in 2023 and 2022, respectively.
Keith Neuman, a senior affiliate at Environics, stated previous survey outcomes appeared to point out that the general public’s considerations linked to immigration have been extra about “who’s being admitted, from the place and the way they have been becoming in.” Previously two years, although, the main focus appears to have shifted to the variety of folks coming in and the way the system is being managed.
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“It’s fairly a big shift over the previous two years in (folks’s) sense concerning the numbers and their confidence within the system, and the way in which wherein immigration is being managed,” he stated.
Neuman hyperlinks the change to numerous elements, together with how Canadians understand the impacts of newcomers on financial considerations such because the housing scarcity and the rising value of residing.
“I feel, pretty or unfairly, many Canadians are taking a look at newcomers and saying, ‘Effectively, they’re including to an issue. Out of the blue all these new folks want a brand new place to stay, and we’re competing with them,’” he stated. “(Immigration is) actually not the first reason behind the housing disaster, however I feel individuals are making the connection.”
Neuman stated Canadians haven’t turned their backs on immigration the identical approach as another international locations the place the sentiment is much more detrimental. In Canada, the priority is extra about how the system is being managed.
As of July 1, 2024, the nation’s inhabitants was estimated to be 41.2 million, in response to Statistics Canada. It elevated by about 1.2 million, or a price of round three per cent, between July 1, 2023, and July 1, 2024, primarily resulting from immigration. The expansion price was comparable up to now two years.
The expansion price appears to be slowing down, in response to Statistics Canada.
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Inhabitants progress continues regardless of indicators of slowdown
Canada added 250,229 folks between April and July this yr, a quarterly progress price of 0.6 per cent. That’s decrease than the 334,606 and 253,510 folks added throughout the identical quarters in 2023 and 2022.
• Electronic mail: nkarim@postmedia.com
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