Canadian public opinion about immigration and refugees - Fall 2025

As part of its Focus Canada public opinion research program (launched in 1976), the Environics Institute updated its research on immigration and refugees. This survey was conducted in partnership with the Diversity Institute at Toronto Metropolitan University, and with the ongoing support of the Century Initiative.

The survey is based on telephone interviews conducted (via landline and cellphones) with 2,004 Canadians between September 8 and 21, 2025. A sample of this size drawn from the population produces results accurate to within plus or minus 2.2 percentage points in 19 out of 20 samples. All results are presented as percentages, unless otherwise noted.

Executive Summary

2025 has been an especially challenging year for Canada, and for the global world order. The return of Donald Trump as US President up-ended the historically-close relationship between these two North American neighbours, placing unprecedented pressure on Canada’s political sovereignty and economy. In response, Canadians reelected a Liberal government with a new Prime Minister who is now focused on managing the challenges emanating from Washington and strengthening ties with other allies.

The country has long relied on a robust stream of new immigrants to maintain population growth and support a growing economy. But in recent years the system has struggled to manage a larger inflow of newcomers, prompting increasing public concerns about the country’s capacity to welcome large numbers of permanent residents, temporary residents and refugees. The federal government responded in fall 2024 by sharply reducing immigration levels and incorporating temporary residents into the plans, but the public-at-large has yet to regain its confidence in how the system is being managed, and the issue is increasingly becoming politicized.

A majority of Canadians continue to say there is too much immigration, but opinions have stabilized since 2024 following a sharp increase over the two previous years. Those who express this view increasingly point to poor government management as the problem.

In 2025, more than half of Canadians (56%) believe the country accepts too many immigrants, but this percentage has levelled off from a year ago (down 2 percentage points), following a dramatic increase over the two previous years (2022-2024). This sentiment continues to reflect the majority view across most parts of the country, with some shifts over the past year: In central Canada, belief in too much immigration has increased in Quebec, while declining in Ontario; in the Prairies, this sentiment is now much less evident than a year ago in Manitoba and Saskatchewan, while rising in Alberta (where two-thirds now agree there is too much immigration). As in previous surveys, there is little difference in the perspectives of people who are first-generation and those born in Canada.

Canadians who say the country is accepting too many immigrants cite various reasons for expressing this view, but over the past year there is increasing emphasis placed on the system being poorly managed by government. Other concerns about immigration continue to focus on the negative impact on jobs and the economy, added pressure on housing prices and availability, over-population, and straining already-stretched public finances. As before, those who believe there is too much immigration are much less likely to point to it as a threat to Canada’s (or Quebec’s) culture and values, as a security or public health risk, or a problem with too many international students.

An increasing number of Canadians express concerns about the legitimacy of some refugees and how newcomers are integrating into society. A significant minority continue to agree that immigrants lead to more crime and that the country admits too many racial minorities.

While opinions about immigration levels have stabilized since 2024, there continues to be increasing concern among some about who is being admitted into the country. Increasing proportions of Canadians now agree that many people claiming to be refugees are not real refugees (43%, up 3 points from 2024) and that too many immigrants are not adopting Canadian values (60%, up 3); in both cases the uptick is relatively small but builds on a similar increase over the previous year.

As well, significant minorities of Canadians continue to express concerns about immigrants in other ways. More than one-third (36%) agree that immigrants increase the level of crime in Canada, and that the country accepts too many from racial minority groups (39%). In both cases these proportions are unchanged from 2024, but still reflect a stronger sentiment of xenophobia than has been recorded over the past decade (although still less evident than in the 1990s). Notably, opinions on these questions do not vary between racialized Canadians and those who identify as white.

Public concerns about newcomers notwithstanding, Canadians continue to recognize the positive contribution of immigration to the national economy and their local communities. Eight in ten believe people born abroad are as likely as native-born Canadians to be good citizens. 

While many Canadians are either uncomfortable or outright opposed to the country’s current immigration policies, there is also widespread recognition of how newcomers make important contributions to the country. Seven in ten (70%) agree that immigrants have a positive impact on the national economy, with this proportion reflecting a minor uptick reversing a two-year decline. At the local level, three quarters of Canadians say that immigrants make their own communities a better place (29%) or have no net effect good or bad (47%), compared with just 15 percent who believe newcomers make their communities worse.

Canadians continue to define their country’s uniqueness first and foremost in terms of its multiculturalism, diversity and tolerance, ahead of such attributes as the land, democratic freedoms, natural resources or universal health care. As well, eight in ten say that someone born outside Canada is just as likely to be a good citizen of this country as someone born here.  

The most significant change in public opinion over the past year is the widening partisan divide. Federal Conservative Party supporters are increasingly critical of immigration and its impacts on the country, and account for most if not all of the negative trend recorded over the past year.

The past 25 years has witnessed a growing political divide over the issue of immigration in Canada, and this gap has accelerated over the past year. Federal Conservative Party supporters are now, by far, the most critical and negative group of Canadians on this issue, and have become measurably more so on almost every measure on this years survey. The gap between their perspective and that of supporters of the federal Liberals and NDP is now the largest recorded on Focus Canada surveys (since 1977), and points to immigration as one of the primary dividing lines in Canadian politics today.

For more information, contact Keith Neuman