New Leger Poll: Nearly Every Demographic In Canada Wants Lower Immigration

Just several days after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced a reduction in the number of low-wage temporary foreign workers, Leger has released a new poll showing that most Canadians think immigration levels are too high. In fact, this attitude prevails among nearly every single demographic and subsection of respondents – a startling degree of common ground.

While it is trendy for journalists to write columns about how Trudeau “broke Canada’s immigration consensus”, it seems more accurate to say that the Prime Minister has, through his incompetence, accidentally managed to create an entirely new consensus – one in favour of immigration restriction.

I have compiled some of the most noteworthy findings from the Leger poll here:

Large majority of Canadians think Trudeau is admitting too many immigrants:

• “Too many” (65%)
• “The right number” (20%)
• “Not enough” (3%)
• “Don’t know” (11%)

A majority of every region surveyed thinks immigration is too high

• Atlantic Canada: 68%
• Quebec: 67%
• Ontario: 65%
• Manitoba and Saskatchewan: 64%
• Alberta: 64%
• British Columbia: 64%

Majority of both sexes, all ages also feel this way

• Male: 66%
• Female: 64%
• 18-34: 57%
• 35-54: 63%
• 55+: 73%

On immigration, urban, suburban, and rural Canada have found something they can all agree on

The following list shows the percentage of Canadians who think immigration is too high among different areas in the country:

• Urban: 62%
• Suburban: 65%
• Rural: 75%

The majority of voters in five out of six political parties think immigration is too high

• Conservative: 86%
• Liberal: 53%
• Bloc Quebecois: 75%
• Green: 63%
• People’s Party: 81%
• NDP: 46%

As you can see, the odd one is the NDP – though 46% is still considerable. This result may be an outlier in this specific poll – in an Abacus poll released in late November of last year, 63% of NDP respondents said immigration was too high.

Most Canadians agree that current immigration levels are straining housing and healthcare

• “Current immigration rates are contributing to the housing availability and affordability crisis” (78% agree)
• “Current immigration rates are contributing to stresses on health care services” (76% agree)
• “Canada’s immigration policy is too generous” (72% agree)

Canadians are skeptical of accepting refugees from Gaza, and very skeptical that Ottawa will vet them properly

“In response to the conflict in the Middle East and often reported humanitarian crisis in Gaza, the federal government has increased the number of Gazan refugees by 5 times to 5,000 individuals this year. Do you support or oppose the policy decision allowing an increased number of Gazan refugees into the country?”

• Total support: 41%
• Total opposed: 43%

“How confident are you that all refugees coming to Canada as a result of the Middle East conflict in Gaza are being thoroughly screened by the Government of Canada?”

• Total confident: 25%
• Total not confident: 64%