A new survey out of Washington has found that Canadians have a more positive attitude toward immigration than several other nations, including the U.S., the U.K., and the Netherlands.
“Canadian attitudes are by far the most positive among all countries surveyed,” said Delancey Gustin, an analyst with the Washington-based think tank who conducts this survey each year.
The analysts said that government policy and Canadian geography both work together to ensure that Canada attracts and retains the most desirable migrants in terms of skill.
“Research shows that when immigrants come from far away they’re more likely to succeed, because it costs a lot of money and requires connections,” said Gustin. “These people are typically more educated and tend to be the elite of their own country. So you guys [in Canada] have (the) luxury of kind of skimming right off the top and bringing in the best and brightest.”
This fact has helped over half of the Canadian public to agree that immigrants help to create jobs and businesses. Further, Canadian respondents believe that the government is doing a good job with immigration policy.
However, Canada’s numbers, though more positive than the other nations surveyed, are still in line with the overall trend in dropping approval rates. Experts say the declining views on the issue are a direct result of the recession which has plagued the global economy in recent years.
Source: Vancouver Province
