New survey finds Canadians are feeling anxious about immigration

Would be nice if CBC would indicate in the article who carried out the survey but the findings make intuitive sense and largely track other surveys on the general questions (checked, online survey by Probe Research, no margin of error cannot be assigned):

Canadians are feeling increasingly uneasy about immigration and its role in generating “economic strain,” according to a new survey conducted by the Canadian Museum for Human Rights.

Among other things, the survey found that many Canadians believe too much attention is being focused on newcomers and refugees, and that asylum seekers receive too many benefits.

The survey landed two weeks after Ottawa announced dramatic changes to its projected immigration numbers. On Sunday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau also said in an online video that he should have acted more quickly to address problems with the immigration system.

The survey heard from 2,500 Canadians in both 2023 and 2024. This year, it found that a majority — 56 per cent — said they believe refugees and asylum seekers “receive too many benefits.” The report calls that a “significant increase” over the 49 per cent who said the same thing in 2023.

The survey also reported a “significant decrease” in the number of Canadians who believe immigration makes the country better — from 52 per cent in 2023 down to 44 per cent this year.

The 2024 survey also found that 41 per cent of Canadians believe there’s “too much attention focused on the rights of newcomers.”

“Among responses received in open-ended inquiries, there was a notable increase between 2023 and 2024 in sentiments that correlate immigration with economic strain in Canada,” the report said.

The CEO of the Canadian Museum for Human Rights, Isha Khan, told CBC News that “perceptions” about immigration are changing and the matter needs more study.

“That’s a point we really need to dig into,” Khan said. “We need to understand where those perceptions are coming from and how they impact our collective work.”

Immigration was only one aspect of the survey, entitled 2024 Foresights for Human Rights.

While just 11 per cent of respondents cited access to affordable housing as a top human rights issue, nearly 60 per cent said that right to housing had weakened over the last decade.

The report said that two in three respondents reported feeling optimistic about protecting human rights in Canada, particularly Indigenous rights and gender equity. Just one in three felt the same about human rights abroad….

Source: New survey finds Canadians are feeling anxious about immigration