IRCC Deputy Minister Transition Binder 2026 - Public Opinion Research on Immigration

Context

Over the course of 2023 and 2024, there was a significant negative shift in public opinion on immigration, followed by a slight recovery in 2025. Canadians’ views of immigration levels remain more negative than they were in the 25 years leading up to 2023.

Public perceptions of immigration

• In November 2025, nearly half of Canadians (47%) said there were too many immigrants coming to Canada, up from just 22% in March 2023, but down from 54% in November 2024.^{Table Footnote 1}
• In November 2025, half of Canadians (50%) said that immigration had a somewhat or very positive impact on Canada, down from 71% in March 2023.^{Table Footnote 2}
• In the late 1990s and early 2000s, there was a positive shift in Canadian support for immigration, followed by a period of relative stability leading up to 2023. The share of Canadians who said there were too many immigrants coming to Canada dropped from 46% in 1996, to 41% in 1997, 36% in 2002, 29% in 2005, 26% in 2009, and eventually 22% in 2020.^{Table Footnote 3}

Many Canadians continue to understand the benefits of immigration, including its role in meeting labour demands with an aging population. At the same time, many Canadians are concerned about Canada’s capacity to absorb newcomers, particularly in housing and infrastructure, the economy and jobs, as well as health care, education, and other social services. While the concerns that grew during 2023 and 2024 started to subside in 2025, confidence in the benefits of immigration has not rebounded.

• In August 2025, agreement with key statements about the economic benefits of immigration was lower than in March 2023: 46% of Canadians agreed that “immigration is necessary if Canada is to sustain its economic growth in the face of an aging population” (60% in March 2023), 45% agreed that “Canada’s competitiveness depends on our ability to recruit immigrants who meet our country’s evolving labour needs” (57% in March 2023), and 42% agreed that “immigration is necessary to help fill skill and labour shortages in my local economy” (56% in March 2023).^{Table Footnote 4}
• When asked to explain why they felt there were too many immigrants coming to Canada, Canadians most often expressed concerns about the availability or cost of housing, the availability of jobs, the capacity of the economy, and immigrants competing for social supports with those already in Canada.^{Table Footnote 5}
• In August 2025, 56% of Canadians agreed that immigration puts too much pressure on housing prices in their city or town—up from 34% in March 2022 and 45% in March 2023, but down from 61% in June 2024. At the same time, 65% of Canadians felt that, over the next few years, new immigrants coming to Canada would have a negative impact on the Canadian housing market—up from 50% in March 2023 but down from 69% in November 2024.^{Table Footnote 6}
• In August 2025, 63% of Canadians agreed that “immigration has placed too much pressure on public services in Canada”—up from 51% in March 2023 but down from 67% in November 2024. At the same time, 59% agreed that “Canada should focus on helping unemployed Canadians rather than looking for skilled immigrants for our workforce”—up from 54% in March 2023 but down from 63% in November 2024.^{Table Footnote 7}

Canadians’ support for accepting refugees has similarly decreased since 2023, though they are less concerned about the number of refugees coming to Canada than about the overall number of immigrants coming to Canada. Of particular concern, fewer Canadians now hold the underlying belief that Canada has a responsibility to accept refugees.

• In August 2025, 41% of Canadians said that Canada is admitting too many resettled refugees—up from 29% in February 2020—and 46% said that Canada is receiving too many asylum seekers—up from 41% in February 2020. By comparison, in the same August 2025 survey, 60% of Canadians said there were too many immigrants (in general) coming to Canada.^{Table Footnote 8}
• In August 2025, 56% of Canadians agreed that “accepting refugees places too much pressure on public services in Canada”—up from 48% in March 2023 but down from 61% in November 2024. By contrast, a modestly larger share (63%) of Canadians agreed that “immigration has placed too much pressure on public services in Canada” in the same August 2025 survey.^{Table Footnote 9}
• In August 2025, 44% of Canadians agreed that “Canada has a responsibility to do its part in accepting refugees.” This represents a significant decrease from a peak of 64% in March 2022, immediately following the Russian invasion of Ukraine and seven months after the fall of Kabul, and from a baseline of 53% in February 2020. Similarly, agreement that “accepting refugees is part of Canada’s humanitarian tradition” dropped to 51% in August 2025—down from 69% in March 2022 and 59% in February 2020.^{Table Footnote 10}

Immigration levels targets and management of the immigration system

Many Canadians are aware of the release of recent immigration levels plans, and half of Canadians have heard that immigration levels have been cut. Canadians are split between support for and opposition to the 2026 permanent resident target of 380,000 and are modestly more supportive of than opposed to limits on temporary foreign worker and international student admissions.

• Awareness of the recent immigration levels plans was high: 68% of Canadians had heard something about the 2025–2027 Immigration Levels Plan in November 2024, and 52% had heard something about the 2026–2028 plan in November 2025, which was announced in November 2025 as part of that year’s federal budget.^{Table Footnote 11}
• In November 2024, 52% of Canadians mentioned hearing (unprompted) that immigration levels would be decreasing.^{Table Footnote 12}
• In August 2025, 47% of Canadians said that the government was currently planning to decrease the rate of immigration, while 12% said the rate was being increased.^{Table Footnote 13}
• In November 2025, 35% of Canadians expressed support for the 2026 target of 380,000 new permanent residents, while 37% expressed opposition to it.^{Table Footnote 14}
• In November 2025, 40% of Canadians expressed support for reducing the number of temporary foreign workers and international students we admit over the next three years, while 30% expressed opposition to this.^{Table Footnote 15}

Canadians are more likely to think that the Government of Canada is on the wrong track rather than the right track on immigration, though immigration is not the top issue of concern for most Canadians. Many Canadians are not confident in how well the immigration system is managed, including its ability to select immigrants who will contribute, set targets and conduct security screening.

• In January 2026, 41% of Canadians said that the government was on the wrong track in its management of immigration, while 26% said it was on the right track. Belief that the government was on the wrong track on immigration had declined since it reached a peak at 52% in December 2024, but remained higher than it was in spring 2023 (28%).^{Table Footnote 16}
• In December 2025, 29% of Canadians said that the Government of Canada was making progress on sustainable immigration levels, unchanged from October 2025.^{Table Footnote 17}
• In January 2026, 7% of Canadians said that immigration was the one issue that should receive the greatest attention from the government. By contrast, 19% said that the economy, jobs and unemployment should receive the most attention, followed by cost of living, affordable housing, and inflation (17%), and health care (10%).^{Table Footnote 18}
• In August 2025, just 22% of Canadians agreed that the Canadian immigration system was well managed overall. In particular, 22% of Canadians agreed that the government “does a good job of deciding how many people should be allowed to immigrate to Canada each year,” while 24% agreed that “Canada’s immigration system is effective at selecting people who will contribute positively to the country.” In addition, 29% agreed that immigrants “are properly screened to ensure they do not pose a security risk before they arrive,” and 25% said the same about refugees.^{Table Footnote 19}
• Focus group participants have expressed skepticism about the management of the immigration system in Canada. While there was a general acknowledgement of the importance of immigration, many participants expressed concerns about the large numbers of newcomers admitted over the past few years, citing strains on infrastructure and resources. Many also wondered about the strategy behind admissions and felt that it would be beneficial to Canada to admit newcomers who could immediately fill labour shortage gaps (and have foreign credentials recognized), and to have newcomers move to less populated regions of the country.^{Table Footnote 20}