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August 21, 2018 – Against the backdrop of more frequent, and increasingly fraught conversations about policy regarding immigration and migration to Canada, analysis of current and historical public opinion data by the Angus Reid Institute finds that half of Canadians would prefer to see the federal government’s current immigration targets of 310,000 new permanent residents for 2018 decreased.
For those currently opposed, the qualifications of immigrants do not appear to matter. While Canadians are generally positive about the economic benefits of immigration for the country, across each of the three major classes of permanent residents – economic, family and refugee/humanitarian – a majority of those who say immigration is too high also say that each of these individual group totals should be reduced.
Key Findings
Half of Canadians (49%) say that the 2018 target of 310,000 is too high. Three-in-ten see that number as about right, while the rest say it is either too low (6%) or they are unsure (14%)
Past Liberal and NDP voters are far more inclined to say that levels are “about right” (41% and 35% respectively) than 2015 Conservative voters – two-thirds of whom (67%) say immigration should be reduced.
Overall, however a significant segment – at least four-in-ten who voted for each of the three main parties in 2015 say immigration levels should be reduced
Educational attainment appears to be a factor in views about immigration levels. Those with a high school education or less are nearly twice as likely as university educated Canadians to say that levels should be reduced (59% to 32%).
The group of permanent residents that generates the largest political divide in opinion are those in the refugee and humanitarian class. The global refugee crisis has only exacerbated the needs of this group, but only half of Canadians say the number should stay the same (32%) or increase (18%). Four-in-ten (39%) would like to see the total lowered.
More than half of 2015 Conservative party voters say that there are too many refugee and humanitarian cases entering the country, and only six per cent say the opposite. Liberal and NDP supporters are much more divided.
http://angusreid.org/canadian-immigration-trend-data/
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