An overwhelming majority of Canadians believe immigration has a positive impact on the economy, according to a new poll.
Some 80 per cent of respondents to the Environics survey felt bringing in new immigrants helped Canada grow and prosper.
In the same survey, some 58 per cent said they disagreed that immigration levels were too high, in a year where Canada is set to welcome record numbers of newcomers for the modern era.
Source: Environics Institute
The poll result will come as a welcome boost for Immigration Minister John McCallum as he gathers support for an increase in the number of newcomers, beyond the approximately 300,000 new permanent residents expected in 2016.
Innovation Minister Navdeep Bains will also have taken note of the poll outcome, after arguing recently that the Liberal government needed to change the argument on immigration to reflect how it benefits the economy. It would appear Canadians are on board with this idea.
Both McCallum and Bains are in favour of an increase in the number of skilled migrants coming into Canada, with the Liberal consensus appearing to be that future economic success hinges on using immigration to plug skills gaps and balance an ageing demographic.
Source: Environics Institute
The Environics poll is regularly conducted, allowing trends in the opinion of Canadians to be mapped over time.
That trend is positive towards immigration over the last 15 months, a time when Canada has mounted a drive to welcome more than 30,000 Syrian refugees.
And while a majority of Canadians believe too many immigrants are not adopting Canadian values, the 54 per cent who said that has dropped from 65 per cent 15 months ago.
Source: Evironics Institute
An overwhelming 91 per cent of Canadians believe someone born outside the country makes just as good a citizen as those born inside.
Keith Neuman, Executive Director at Environics, believes Canadians are the most positive they have been about immigration for a long time.
“These results demonstrate that the growing anti-immigrant sentiment evident in the USA and many European countries has not taken hold in Canada,” Neuman said.
“Considering the survey results as a whole, one would have to conclude that Canadian public opinion about immigration is the most positive it has been in the past several decades.”
Source: Environics Institute
Bains believes Canada has an opportunity to capitalise on the world’s anti-immigration sentiment and grab some of the best and brightest minds the world has to offer with a new global talent visa.
With McCallum set to announce his immigration target for the 2017 and possibly beyond in November, the new visa could be introduced as a way of bringing in greater numbers of fit-for-purpose immigrants in a streamlined manner.
Meanwhile, Canadians also said they felt most refugees brought into the country were genuine. This view comes as Canada’s parliament voted to provide refuge for the persecuted Yazidi tribe from Iraq.
Source: Environics Institute
Canadians also feel the government is doing a good job keeping criminals out of the country.
Source: Environics Institute
Environics conducted 2,000 phone interviews with Canadians between October 3 and 16, 2016. The survey is part of the Focus Canada research program, ongoing since 1979.
The questions asked also offer a key insight into what Canadians feel makes a good citizen. The top three answers to this question were that they obeyed the law, contributed to their community and helped their neighbours.
Source: Environics Institute
Interested employers: Kindly contact us here to receive further information.
Interested candidates: Find out whether you qualify to Canada by completing our free on-line evaluation. We will provide you with our evaluation within 1-2 business days.
Recent News Articles:
- Canada Among Four Nations Dominating Skilled-Worker Migration
- How to Submit a New PGWP Application If You Were Previously Refused
Read more news about Canada Immigration by clicking here.
