IRCC Minister Transition Binder 2023: Public Opinion Research on Canadians’ Attitudes Towards Immigration
Views of Immigration Levels – Public Opinion Research
IRCC has conducted regular telephone tracking surveys with Canadians since 1996 and online tracking surveys since 2018, along with focus groups. This research covers a wide range of topics, and the cornerstone has been Canadians’ views of immigration levels.
- Over the past 25 years, the number of immigrants who landed in Canada each year has increased from around 200,000 to over 400,000, yet we have not seen a rise in opposition to the number of immigrants coming to Canada.
- In fact, support for immigration levels has been relatively stable over the past 15 years, following a substantial positive shift in the late 1990’s and early 2000’s.
| Number of immigrants coming to Canada is about right | Too few | Too many | Wave flag | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January 1996 | 42% | 6% | 46% | 0% |
| September 1996 | 44% | 7% | 46% | 0% |
| June 1997 | 47% | 8% | 41% | 0% |
| October 1998 | 49% | 9% | 38% | 0% |
| October 1999 | 49% | 8% | 40% | 0% |
| October 2000 | 51% | 14% | 33% | 0% |
| September 2001 | 47% | 11% | 36% | 0% |
| December 2002 | 44% | 11% | 36% | 0% |
| December 2003 | 43% | 12% | 39% | 0% |
| December 2004 | 49% | 18% | 29% | 0% |
| November 2005 | 48% | 15% | 30% | 0% |
| November 2006 | 48% | 15% | 28% | 0% |
| March 2007 | 55% | 13% | 27% | 0% |
| January 2009 | 50% | 14% | 26% | 0% |
| March 2010 | 54% | 13% | 23% | 0% |
| February 2012 | 51% | 10% | 30% | 0% |
| December 2012 | 53% | 11% | 27% | 0% |
| February 2014 | 52% | 10% | 26% | 0% |
| September 2014 | 52% | 12% | 26% | 0% |
| January 2016 | 58% | 12% | 16% | 0% |
| August 2016 | 52% | 16% | 23% | 0% |
| August 2017 | 52% | 16% | 27% | 0% |
| March 2018 | 55% | 14% | 27% | 0% |
| August 2018 | 49% | 13% | 28% | 0% |
| March 2019 | 54% | 15% | 24% | 0% |
| Feb-20 | 57% | 17% | 22% | 0% |
| Sep-20 | 61% | 12% | 22% | 0% |
| Mar-21 | 60% | 14% | 22% | 0% |
| Mar-22 | 53% | 25% | 15% | 0% |
| Mar-23 | 52% | 22% | 22% | 0% |
Source: IRCC Telephone Tracking Survey (January 1996 through March 2023)
Question: In your opinion do you feel that there are too many, too few or about the right number of immigrants coming to Canada?
Provincial and Territorial Support for Immigration - Public Opinion Research
- As shown in the chart below, a majority of respondents to IRCC’s March 2023 Tracking Survey say that the number of immigrants coming to their province or territory is about right or too few.
- Ontario and BC are among the most concerned about the current rate of immigration to their province, likely the result of significant immigration to Toronto and Vancouver.
| Too few | About right | Too many | Not sure | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| BC | 19% | 46% | 24% | 12% |
| AB | 25% | 43% | 18% | 14% |
| SK | 24% | 45% | 16% | 15% |
| MB | 33% | 43% | 13% | 11% |
| ON | 11% | 42% | 36% | 11% |
| QC | 28% | 44% | 20% | 9% |
| NB | 29% | 51% | 10% | 10% |
| NS | 36% | 34% | 21% | 10% |
| PE | 12% | 57% | 27% | 4% |
| NL | 54% | 29% | 12% | 5% |
| Territories | 33% | 36% | 27% | 4% |
Source: IRCC Telephone Tracking Survey (March 2023)
Question: Do you feel that there are too many, too few or about the right number of immigrants coming to your province or territory?
Housing & Immigration Beyond MTV*- Public Opinion Research
*Montréal, Toronto, Vancouver
- More than two thirds of respondents to IRCC’s March 2023 Tracking Survey agreed that “it is important that Canada encourages new immigrants to settle in areas outside of Canada's largest municipalities, including Montréal, Toronto and Vancouver.”
- Half of respondents felt that, over the next few years, new immigrants coming to Canada will have a negative impact on the Canadian housing market, and nearly half agreed that “immigration puts too much pressure on housing prices in your city or town.”
- Despite this, a majority of respondents agreed that “immigration is necessary to fill skill and labour shortages in my local economy,” and were generally more likely to want to increase immigration to their city or town than to decrease it.
- Toronto and Vancouver are exceptions: despite strong agreement that immigration is necessary to fill skill and labour shortages, each showed notable opposition to the rate of local immigration, including among those supportive of national immigration levels.
- Participants in IRCC’s Winter 2023 focus groups were asked what needs to happen for their communities to accommodate more immigrants. Across Canada, they were quick to raise concerns about housing shortages and affordability, health care and education.
Source: IRCC Tracking Surveys and IRCC Focus Groups
Public Reactions to CUAET* - Public Opinion Research
*Canada-Ukraine Authorization for Emergency Travel
- A PCO August 2022 telephone survey found that three-quarters of Canadians supported the government bringing Ukrainians to Canada, while just 7% were opposed.
- In IRCC’s Winter 2023 focus groups, many participants expressed support for Canada having accepted 100,000 Ukrainians (as of early 2023). No participants expressed opposition.
- While only a few participants understood that Ukrainians were coming to Canada as extended visitors rather than as permanent residents (PRs), many expressed support for this approach, seeing it as appropriately expedient and un-bureaucratic.
- Participants were conscious of the speed and effectiveness with which the Ukrainian response was implemented versus other refugee resettlement efforts. Many saw this as unfair differential treatment for one population, and expressed support for applying the same approach to people who live in other armed conflict areas.
- Most participants expressed support for a pathway to PR for Ukrainians, expressing discomfort with the idea of Ukrainians being told to leave, especially if they had been in Canada for a number of years. That said, some reacted negatively to the idea of a special pathway for Ukrainians, though this was often based on an expectation that a suitable pathway already existed.
Source: PCO Tracking Surveys and IRCC Focus Groups
Support for Resettling Afghan Refugees - Public Opinion Research
- Half of respondents to IRCC’s March 2023 Tracking Survey expressed support for “the Government of Canada bringing a number of Afghan refugees to Canada.” About the same proportion felt that “at least 40,000 Afghan refugees by the end of 2023” was either about right or too few. A third of respondents felt this was too many. Notably, we see less public support for bringing in Afghan refugees than for bringing in Ukrainians.
- Support for accepting “Afghans who closely assisted Canada’s efforts in Afghanistan,” for accepting “any Afghans fleeing persecution under the Taliban regime” and for accepting “the family members of Afghans who have been brought to Canada as refugees” are each higher than support for accepting “Afghan refugees” in general—suggesting that these reasons for resettling Afghans do resonate with some Canadians on the fence.
- Five percent of respondents say they have personally taken steps to help Afghan refugees settle in Canada, with an additional 16% saying they would be personally interested in helping Canada settle Afghan refugees.
- When asked about refugees in general, over two-thirds of respondents agreed that “accepting refugees is part of Canada’s humanitarian tradition” and over three-fifths agreed that “Canada has a responsibility to do its part in accepting refugees.”
Source: IRCC Tracking Surveys
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