New data reveals what Canadians really think about immigration

Immigration is one of the hottest political issues in Canada at the moment and new data from the federal government has revealed what Canadians in 2024 think about the number of immigrants being brought into the country, and the findings may surprise you. 

The Department of Immigration, Refugees, and Canadian Citizenship contracted Ipsos to conduct the 2023-2024 IRCC Annual Tracking Survey to probe Canadians about all things immigration in the country and it made several interesting discoveries.

When the 3,000 nationwide Canadians interviewed for the study were asked how they felt about the number of immigrants coming into the country, 48% responded that they thought it was “about the right number” while 12% said the figure was “too few.”

About one-third of respondents (35%), the number of immigrants coming into Canada was “too high.” These findings contrast with a July poll from the market research group that found 60% of Canadians thought the country has admitted too many immigrants. 

According to the Government of Canada, Ottawa plans to add 485,000 new permanent residents to the country in 2024, which will be followed by an additional 500,000 in 2025 and 500,000 in 2026—putting the total over those three years at just below 1.5 million. 

While the number of immigrants being brought into the country by the government may seem rather high, the survey data from Ipsos revealed Canadians are broadly positive about the impact these newcomers are having on the nation and their communities. 

“Just over half (55%) of Canadians feel that immigration has a positive effect on their city or town, compared to one in five (22%) who feel immigration has a more negative effect,” the 2023-2024 IRCC Annual Tracking Survey’s final report explained. 

“At a provincial level, perceptions of immigration are similar where six in ten (58%) Canadians feel that immigration has a positive effect on their province, while one quarter (24%) feel it has a negative effect,” the report continued. 

Overall, on a national level, the findings were consistent with roughly six in ten (63%) of Canadians surveyed thinking immigrants had a positive effect on the country compared to the roughly one quarter (23%) who thought the opposite. 

“Canadians have positive impressions of Canada’s reputation as an open and welcoming society (74%) and two-thirds (65%) agree that accepting immigrants from many different cultures makes Canada’s culture stronger,” the report explained 

On an economic level, 67% of Canadians thought immigration was necessary for the country to sustain its economic growth while 61% agreed that the nation's competitive edge was dependent on its ability to recruit immigrants to meet Canada’s labour needs. 

“Six in ten (62%) also agree that immigration is necessary to help fill skill and labour shortages in their local economies” the report noted. However, there were also some very worrying findings made regarding how Canadians are feeling about immigration. 

“Almost half (46%) of Canadians agree that immigration has placed too much pressure on public services in the country,” the report explained, noting that 50% of people agreed that immigration puts pressure on housing availability in their community.

“About one quarter (27%) of Canadians agree that immigration is causing Canada to change in ways that they don’t like," the report added. The data comes at a time when Ottawa is working to tamp down the number of temporary residents in Canada. 

On August 1st, Reuters reported the federal government was set to unveil a series of new measures meant to “clamp down” on temporary immigration in Canada, an issue that has become a major problem within the country. 

"The era of uncapped programs to come into this country is quickly coming to an end. This is a big shift. You can't just slam on the brakes and expect it to stop immediately," Immigration Minister Marc Miller explained to Reuters in a phone call. 

The Globe and Mail recently reported that federal data showed the number of temporary residents in Canada ballooned to 2.8 million, which includes people in the country due to work permits, international students, and asylum claims. 

Based on data from Statistics Canada, the 2.8 million temporary residents in the country make up 6.8% of the total population of Canada, a figure which is up 3.5% from two years prior according to The Globe and Mail’s reporting. 

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