Most Canadians welcome immigrants, but anti-immigration sentiments persist
Hostility towards immigrants has become a powerful component https://www.forbes.com/sites/stuartanderson/2020/08/26/fact-check-and-review-of-trump-immigration-policy/ of right-wing populism in several western countries https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-64024461. But for the time being, Canada has not succumbed https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/27/world/canada/canadas-secret-to-resisting-the-wests-populist-wave.html to this wave.
In Canada, attitudes towards immigration have never been a particularly divisive or salient election issue. Maxime Bernier’s People’s Party of Canada is the only federal party whose platform includes radical reform of Canada’s immigration system https://www.peoplespartyofcanada.ca/immigration. Nonetheless, the party has twice failed https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/peoples-party-election-2021-1.6182680 to gain any seats in parliament.
Reinforcing the idea that multiculturalism lies at the centre of Canadian identity, a recent Focus Canada report https://acrobat.adobe.com/link/review?uri=urn:aaid:scds:US:92e101c4-428a-49e5-a34d-abfcc31fd012 finds that the public “has never been more supportive” of immigrants.
Our ongoing research into anti-immigration attitudes is primarily motivated by recent xenophobic attacks which expose a resurgence in anti-immigrant feelings. For instance, the 2021 London, Ont. hit-and-run, described by the prime minister as a “terrorist attack,” https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/trudeau-london-terroris-attack-1.6057480 which killed four members of a Muslim family, shocked many Canadians. A man facing terror-related murder charges https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/london/trial-of-man-charged-in-killing-of-muslim-family-in-london-ont-to-be-held-in-different-city-1.6531656 is scheduled to stand trial in September 2023.
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In 2020, Canadian police https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/85-002-x/2022001/article/00005-eng.htm reported 2,669 criminal acts motivated by hatred —the largest number recorded since 2009.
The Canadian government recently announced plans to welcome 500,000 new permanent residents a year by 2025. Research shows that despite rising hate crimes most Canadians are supportive of immigration. (Shutterstock)
Anti-immigrant sentiments exist, but no province stands out
We conducted a survey in September 2022 with Canadian polling firm Abacus Data https://abacusdata.ca/ on a sample of 1,000 respondents across Canada. We asked four questions: |Read more https://theconversation.com/most-canadians-welcome-immigrants-but-anti-immigration-sentiments-persist-196558|
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