IRCC Minister Transition Binder 2025-05
Public Opinion Research on Canadians' Attitudes Towards Immigration
Context
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) has conducted regular telephone tracking surveys with Canadians since 1996 and online tracking surveys since 2018, along with focus groups. This research covers a wide range of topics, and the cornerstone has been Canadians’ views of immigration levels.
Views of Immigration Levels
- Canadians’ support for immigration levels decreased substantially during 2023 and 2024, to a low not seen in 30 years.
- Historically, support for immigration levels had been relatively stable following a positive shift in the late 1990s and early 2000s, even while the number of permanent residents in Canada each year had increased from around 200,000 to over 400,000.
| Number of immigrants coming to Canada is about right |
Too few | Too many | |
|---|---|---|---|
| November 2024 | 34% | 7% | 54% |
| November 2023 | 48% | 12% | 35% |
| March 2023 | 52% | 22% | 22% |
| March 2022 | 53% | 25% | 15% |
| March 2021 | 60% | 14% | 22% |
| September 2020 | 61% | 12% | 22% |
| February 2020 | 57% | 17% | 22% |
| March 2019 | 54% | 15% | 24% |
| August 2018 | 49% | 13% | 28% |
| March 2018 | 55% | 14% | 27% |
| August 2017 | 52% | 16% | 27% |
| August 2016 | 52% | 16% | 23% |
| January 2016 | 58% | 12% | 16% |
| September 2014 | 52% | 12% | 26% |
| February 2014 | 52% | 10% | 26% |
| December 2012 | 53% | 11% | 27% |
| February 2012 | 51% | 10% | 30% |
| March 2010 | 54% | 13% | 23% |
| January 2009 | 50% | 14% | 26% |
| March 2007 | 55% | 13% | 27% |
| November 2006 | 48% | 15% | 28% |
| November 2005 | 48% | 15% | 30% |
| December 2004 | 49% | 18% | 29% |
| December 2003 | 43% | 12% | 39% |
| December 2002 | 44% | 11% | 36% |
| September 2001 | 47% | 11% | 36% |
| October 2000 | 51% | 14% | 33% |
| October 1999 | 49% | 8% | 40% |
| October 1998 | 49% | 9% | 38% |
| June 1997 | 47% | 8% | 41% |
| September 1996 | 44% | 7% | 46% |
| January 1996 | 42% | 6% | 46% |
Source: IRCC Telephone Tracking Survey (January 1996 through November 2024)
Question: In your opinion do you feel that there are too many, too few, or about the right number of immigrants coming to Canada?
Provincial and Territorial Support for Immigration
- Half of Canadians say there are too many immigrants coming to their province or territory, with residents of Ontario and Alberta most concerned about the current rate of immigration to their province.
- Residents of Newfoundland & Labrador and the Territories are more likely to say the number of immigrants coming to their province or territory is about right or too few.
| BC | AB | SK | MB | ON | QC | NB | NS | PE | NL | Territories | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Too few | 6% | 7% | 14% | 11% | 6% | 10% | 9% | 14% | 6% | 22% | 14% |
| About right | 34% | 28% | 36% | 39% | 27% | 37% | 42% | 30% | 38% | 38% | 52% |
| Too many | 47% | 56% | 39% | 37% | 57% | 44% | 37% | 48% | 52% | 36% | 31% |
| Not sure | 13% | 8% | 11% | 13% | 11% | 9% | 12% | 7% | 4% | 3% | 3% |
Source: IRCC Telephone Tracking Survey (November 2024)
Question: Do you feel that there are too many, too few or about the right number of immigrants coming to your province or territory?
Views of Permanent Resident and Temporary Resident Levels
- Informed that the permanent resident immigration target for 2025 is 395 000, 63% of Canadians think that this is too many, while 28% think it is either about right or too few in IRCC’s November 2024 Online Tracking Survey.
- In that same survey, when informed that “by the end of 2026, the government aims to reduce the number of temporary residents living in Canada to 5 percent of Canada’s total population,” 35% of Canadians think that 5% of Canada’s total population would be about the right number of temporary residents living in Canada, while 37% think it would be too many, 11% think it would be too few, and 16% are unsure.
- In IRCC’s August 2024 focus groups, participants expressed that they did not have a clear understanding of the various categories and classes of immigrants and instead viewed immigration levels based on impact, such as jobs filled or houses needed.
Housing and Immigration Beyond Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver
- The most common concern that Canadians raise about immigration levels is housing, a concern that has increased in the past two years.
- Almost two thirds of respondents agreed that “it is important that Canada encourages new immigrants to settle in areas outside of Canada's largest municipalities, including Montréal, Toronto and Vancouver,” with higher levels of agreement in these cities. That said, fewer residents outside of these cities agree with this statement compared to March 2023.
- Over two thirds of respondents felt that, over the next few years, new immigrants coming to Canada will have a negative impact on the Canadian housing market, and three in five agreed that immigration puts too much pressure on housing prices in their city or town.
Economic and Social Values
- Additional concerns raised by Canadians regarding immigration levels include competition for or availability of jobs, pressure on healthcare and other social supports and infrastructure, and existing difficulties supporting the needs of people who are already here.
- Two thirds of Canadians agree that “immigration has placed too much pressure on public services in Canada,” and “Canada should focus on helping unemployed Canadians rather than looking for skilled immigrants for our workforce.”
- Despite this, half of respondents agreed that “immigration is necessary to fill skill and labour shortages in my local economy,” “immigration is necessary if Canada is to sustain its economic growth in the face of an aging population,” and “Canada’s competitiveness depends on our ability to recruit immigrants who meet our country’s evolving labour needs.”
- As well, half of Canadians agreed with some positive social impacts of immigration, including that most immigrants want to contribute to society and that accepting immigrants from many different cultures makes Canadian culture stronger.
Views of Refugees
- One third of Canadians feel that the impact of refugees on Canada is positive, while fewer see a positive impact at the local level. Canadians are more likely to believe that accepting refugees has no net effect on Canada, compared with immigration in general.
- 48% of Canadians feel that Canada is admitting too many asylum seekers, while a slightly smaller percentage (41%) feel that Canada is admitting too many refugees selected to be resettled to Canada from abroad. However, concern about the level of resettled refugees has increased more dramatically in recent years, while concern about the asylum seeker level is similar to pre-pandemic.
- There has been a slight negative shift in Canadians’ values around refugees since June 2024. In November 2024, just over half agree that “accepting refugees is part of Canada's humanitarian tradition,” while almost half agree that “Canada has a responsibility to do its part in accepting refugees.”
IRCC’S 2024–2025 Annual Tracking Survey and Focus Groups Methodology
- Telephone: 2024–2025 Annual Tracking Survey
- Phoenix SPI conducted a telephone survey between November 1 and 28, 2024.
- 2,500 respondents living in Canada aged 18+, in the respondent’s official language of choice.
- Margin of sampling error of ±1.96%, 19 times out of 20—sampling error is higher for subgroups.
- Results should not be directly compared with online surveys, as attitudes that Canadians express toward immigration are more negative in online surveys than in telephone surveys.
- Online: 2024–2025 Annual Tracking Survey
- Léger conducted an online panel survey between November 14 and 26, 2024.
- 2,252 respondents living in Canada aged 18+, in respondents’ official language of choice.
- Recruited from a non-probability sampling online panel. A margin of sampling error cannot be reported. Quotas were set to ensure a minimum number of survey completions in certain subgroups. Results weighted using Statistics Canada Census data according to region, age and gender to reflect their actual proportions in the Canadian adult population.
- Qualitative: 2024–2025 Annual Tracking Focus Groups
- Ipsos conducted three qualitative phases: 1) an online bulletin board activity with 39 participants in summer 2024; 2) eight online focus groups with 49 total participants in summer 2024; and 3) six online focus groups with 43 total participants in March 2025.
- Qualitative research results are directional in nature and not statistically projectable.