Canadians are divided over the country’s record-high immigration quotas, with more than half saying new residents are failing to assimilate, according to immigration department data.
“Half of Canadians, 51 percent, agree immigrants need to do more to integrate into Canadian society,” said in-house research by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada. “Just under half of Canadians, 46 percent, agree Canada should focus on helping unemployed Canadians rather than looking for skilled immigrants to fill labour shortages.”
Support for the concept of immigration in general was less divided, with 67 percent of respondents saying that immigration is necessary for Canada to sustain economic growth in light of its aging population, according to the data as first reported by Blacklock’s Reporter.
However, researchers said that support was accompanied by attitudes of “not right now,” or “how are we going to make this work?” They said these sentiments were also “partly underpinned by concerns about the impact of immigration on infrastructure.”
Some Canadians who were questioned in focus groups expressed unease with the social impact of immigration.
“About one-quarter of Canadians, 27 percent, agree immigration is causing Canada to change in ways they don’t like,” said the 2024 “Annual Tracking Study” report.
Findings were drawn from questionnaires with 3,000 people nationwide and 14 focus groups.
“Too much,” researchers quoted one respondent as saying. “It’s making it harder for the average person who works here,” said another. “Immigration is good, but we don’t have the infrastructure,” said a third.
Divisions sharpened when the respondents were presented with the actual number of immigrants that had come to Canada.
