Indicators
Support for Immigration in Canada Plunges to Lowest in Decades
- Only 36% of Canadians favor arrival levels, lowest since 1997
- Strains from record population growth led to drop in support
Visitors play cricket at the Halifax Commons park in Halifax.
Photographer: Carolina Andrade/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
Canadians haven’t felt this strongly opposed to immigration levels in a quarter century, a turnaround of attitude in a country that once embraced newcomers but has been shaken by a post-pandemic influx.
Nearly six in 10 people now agree “there’s too much immigration to Canada,” according to the country’s longest-running survey on the topic by the Environics Institute. It’s the first time since 1998 that this view is held by a clear majority, and a stark shift from favorable opinion over the past two decades.