The perceived correlation between immigration levels and the housing and affordability crises has resulted in a sharp decline in Canadians’ support for newcomers to Canada over the past year.
According to a survey conducted by the Environics Institute for Survey Research, in partnership with the Century Initiative (an organization advocating for Canada’s population to reach 100 million by 2100), 44 per cent of Canadians agree with the statement that “overall, there is too much immigration to Canada,” while 51 per cent disagree.
“We see these results as a clarion call for action,” said Lisa Lalande, CEO of the Century Initiative, to the Globe and Mail.
“You cannot address demographic decline through immigration without having these corresponding investments” in housing and other areas.
Although there is relatively more support for immigration than there is not, the intensity of changing sentiment in favor of the latter group is unprecedented in terms of past polls conducted by Environics on immigration and refugees.
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Just last year, for example, public support for immigration was at its peak. Since then, economic problems such as high inflation, rising interest payments, and worsening housing prices across the country have changed Canadians’ attitude on the topic.
“The latest Focus Canada research shows there has been a significant increase in the belief that there is too much immigration to Canada, due in large part to a jump in the proportion citing concerns about how newcomers might be contributing to the current housing crisis,” wrote Environics.
“This reflects a dramatic shift since a year ago in terms of how the public views the number of immigrants being accepted, but there has been no comparable change in what Canadians think about immigrants themselves or to the contribution they make to their communities and the country.”
The Environics survey was based on telephone interviews conducted with 2,002 Canadians between September 4 and September 17.
The results’ accuracy is within plus or minus 2.2 percentage points in 19 out of 20 samples.
Population Growth of More Than One Million in 2022 Owed Mostly to Immigration
Just in 2022, the Canadian population shot up by more than one million – 96 percent due to international migration. This was the largest population spurt since the post-war boom of 1957, and reflects immigration’s role in keeping up Canada’s net labor force growth.
Moreover, the Canadian government plans to maintain the number of newcomers to the country, aiming for 465,000 permanent residents in 2023, 485,000 in 2024, and 500,000 in 2025.
The numbers highlighted above have sparked debate about immigration and Canada’s ability to absorb so many people so quickly.
This is especially true as the growing financial stress for many Canadians has combined with environmental disruption and over-burdened healthcare to create a hostile attitude towards the government’s ability to address the country’s challenges.
The number of Canadians who believe that the country is accepting too many immigrants are particularly concentrated in Ontario and British Columbia, and are mostly top-income earning and first-generation Canadians.
Quebecers, on the other hand, are now as likely as other Canadians to be comfortable with Canada’s growing diversity. Perspectives in the province have change significantly since the 1990s, when a majority expressed concerns over immigration possibly threatening their culture.
Few Canadians overall view immigrants as a negative presence in their communities; rather, a majority of them say that they value their presence and see the benefits that result from the multicultural diversity immigrants bring to the Canadian economy and jobs.
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“Immigration Policy Has Become Disconnected from the Academic Evidence,” says Expert
Partisan political lines are the biggest separator in terms of opinions about immigration and refugees. While supporters of the federal Liberal, New Democratic, and Green parties hold generally positive views, the federal Conservative party are more likely to express concerns.
This divide has only widened on the issue of immigration numbers (even though supporters of all parties are now less supportive compared to last year), but has remained more-or-less consistent with respect to refugees, integration, and the other issues covered on the survey by Environics.
Under Trudeau especially, the Liberals have defined high immigration targets as their economic agenda’s golden egg. They argue that bringing in large numbers of newcomers will lead to economic growth and help fill jobs as the Canadian population gets older.
David Williams, vice-president of policy at the Business Council of British Columbia, labelled this a naïve view of economic functioning.
He highlighted a stagnation in GDP per capita as a sign of average living standards remaining static, despite high newcomer intake.
Moreover, there is a large body of research that suggests that immigration has little effect on per-capita output or average wages, reports the Globe and Mail author Matt Lundy.
“Canada’s immigration policy has really become disconnected from the academic evidence,” Williams said.
“There seems to be a view in Ottawa that ever-increasing immigration levels is a panacea for all of the structural problems in Canada’s economy.”
Immigrants Should Not be Blamed for the Housing Crisis
MP Jenny Kwan commented on the increasing blame being put on immigrants for the housing crisis at the recently-conducted Meeting No. 78 of the Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration.
She said that the housing crisis is a result of successive Liberal and Conservative governments’ failed attempts at establishing a successful housing plan, and not because of immigrants.
Miller seconded her premise.
