The following news report was published in The Financial Post on October 30, 2023.

Canadians are questioning immigration targets, but that doesn't mean they're anti-immigrant

'Dramatic reversal' in public support for number of newcomers Canada hopes to bring in, poll says

There has been a “dramatic reversal” in public support for the number of people Canada hopes to bring in, according to a new national survey, just as the country gets set to announce its new immigration targets.

The survey of roughly 2,000 people in September said Canadians are significantly more likely than a year ago to say there is too much immigration, reversing a decades-long trend, with 44 per cent either strongly or somewhat agreed to the statement, “There is too much immigration to Canada,” up from 27 per cent last year. The proportion of people who disagreed with the statement dropped to 51 per cent from 69 per cent.

“We have been tracking public opinion on the immigration issues for a number of years … opinions were in broad support both for immigration levels and immigration generally,” said Keith Neuman, a senior associate at Environics Institute, which conducted the survey along with Century Initiative, a charity. “Over the past year, there has been a significant shift in the context of our trends, quite dramatic.”

Neuman, however, said the survey does not suggest Canadians are “becoming more anti-immigrant,” but shows the public’s attention has shifted toward capacity, with new questions being raised regarding the country’s ability to accommodate the hundreds of thousands of newcomers it intends to bring in annually.

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Read the 2023 Focus Canada survey report about attitudes towards immigration and refugees.