Sharp increase in number of Canadians saying immigration is too high, long-running poll finds

There has been a considerable drop in public support for high levels of immigration to Canada, according to a long-running survey.

The poll by the Environics Institute showed 44 per cent of respondents think there’s too much immigration to Canada.

Last year, that figure was 27 per cent.

The 17-point increase represents the largest yearly change ever recorded in the survey series, which began in 1977.

But the percentage of respondents saying immigration is too high is considerably lower than it was in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s, when it was frequently over 60 per cent.

It comes amid a political controversy over the cost and availability of housing in Canada, with Justin Trudeau’s government facing pressure to link immigration levels to the number of houses built.

Immigration Minister Marc Miller, who is expected to announce new annual permanent resident targets on Wednesday, said in August he was going to “look at” the impact of immigrants on housing supply.

The survey – conducted in partnership with the lobby group Century Initiative, which wants Canada’s population to reach 100 million by 2100 – found that, among those who said immigration was too high, 38 per cent said immigrants have a negative effect on housing.

A quarter said immigrants “cost too much,” while another 25 per cent said they “take jobs” from Canadians.

But the poll still found a majority of people in favour of current immigration levels, with 51 per cent disagreeing with the statement “overall, there is too much immigration to Canada.”

Last year, that figure was 69 per cent – the highest ever recorded.

Canada’s population surpassed 40 million for the first time this year, with a growth rate of 2.9 per cent, one of the highest in the world.

The country’s population increased by more than one million in 2022, with 96 per cent of that growth down to migration.

“Canadians are now significantly more likely than a year ago to say there is too much immigration to the country, dramatically reversing a trend dating back decades,” the Environics Institute explained in its summary of the survey.

“For the first time, a growing number of Canadians are questioning how many immigrants are arriving, rather than who they are and where they are coming from.”

It added: “This expanding view that Canada is taking in too many immigrants is driven in large part by rising concerns about how newcomers may be contributing to the housing crisis. At the same time, the public is now much less likely to say that too much immigration represents a threat to the country’s culture and values.”