Since September, polls from Nanos, the Environics Institute and now Leger, a Canadian market research company, have all found that support for high levels of immigration to Canada has declined sharply in recent months.
This rapid population growth has caused some Canadians to be concerned that the increasing level of immigration is contributing to a higher cost of living in Canada, especially for housing.
Still, Immigration Refugees and Citizenship Canada’s (IRCC) 2022 Report on Immigration to Parliament showed that immigration is responsible for 90% of Canada’s labour force growth. Without a high number of immigrants, it could be difficult to fill the vacancies left by the nine million Canadians expected to retire by 2030.
IRCC says that the most recent Immigration Levels Plan is sustainable, supports the economy and will relieve pressure felt in the healthcare system as well as in housing.
Despite the need for newcomers to keep Canada’s economy strong, Leger, Environics and Nanos have all found that there is growing concern about immigration among Canadians who are dealing with a high cost of living, elevated inflation and difficulty finding an affordable place to live
The polls did not ask all the same questions, but they did all ask how Canadians feel about the future of immigration in Canada.
Ledger poll
On November 29, Ledger released a survey reporting on Canadian opinions regarding immigration. It found that only 9% of Canadians would like to welcome a higher number of newcomers, 43% are fine with the same amount as planned and 39% would like to see fewer immigrants in Canada.
The same poll showed that 72% of Canadians believe immigrants play a key role in growing Canada’s population. However, nearly the same number feel immigrants are contributing to the housing crisis (75%) and putting pressure on the health care system (73%) and the school system (63%).
It found that Canadians are much more likely to say that there is too much immigration. This was a dramatic reversal from a trend of growing support over decades. It was also the first time Canadians have been found to question the number of immigrants who are arriving in Canada instead of where they come from.
Despite concern over rising levels of immigration, Environics found that most Canadians still believe that immigration is good for the economy, but the lead is not as strong as it has been in the past.
Nanos Poll
Nanos Research also conducted a poll that found 53 per cent of Canadians say they want fewer immigrants in 2023 than what is projected in the Immigration Levels Plan. This is a nearly 20-point increase since similar data was collected in March 2023, rising from 34 %.
All three polls cited Canadian’s growing concerns about the impact of immigration on affordability, particularly considering the current lack of affordable housing.
The most recent data from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation shows that Canada must build over three million new houses to restore affordability by 2030.
Still, the same report notes that despite higher than forecasted levels of immigration, it is not projected that the number of households in Canada will be significantly higher than it was in 2022.
The Environics poll further noted that the concern about immigration’s effect on housing is a narrative driven more by the media than Canadian’s direct experience or locally based developments.
The lack of support for immigration can also be evaluated according to Canadian’s political leanings. The Leger and Environics surveys found less support overall across all supporters of all political parties. However, the most dramatic decrease in support for high levels of immigration was found, in both instances, to be among those who vote for Canada’s conservative party.
Both the Leger report and the Environics report show that 64% of conservative supporters are in favour of less immigration. The same is true among 29% of Liberal party supporters. The results for NDP supporters showed a difference with Ledger saying 37% of NDP supporters felt the same and Environics showing 21% of NDP supporters wanted less immigration.
Nanos did not ask respondents about their political affiliation.
There is also less support for immigration from Canadians over the age of 55. Nanos found that 50% of surveyed Canadians over 55 wanted Canada to accept fewer immigrants. Leger showed 54% for the same question of the same demographic.
VANCOUVER – Contract negotiations resume today in Vancouver in a labour dispute that has paralyzed container cargo shipping at British Columbia’s ports since Monday.
The BC Maritime Employers Association and International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 514 are scheduled to meet for the next three days in mediated talks to try to break a deadlock in negotiations.
The union, which represents more than 700 longshore supervisors at ports, including Vancouver, Prince Rupert and Nanaimo, has been without a contract since March last year.
The latest talks come after employers locked out workers in response to what it said was “strike activity” by union members.
The start of the lockout was then followed by several days of no engagement between the two parties, prompting federal Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon to speak with leaders on both sides, asking them to restart talks.
MacKinnon had said that the talks were “progressing at an insufficient pace, indicating a concerning absence of urgency from the parties involved” — a sentiment echoed by several business groups across Canada.
In a joint letter, more than 100 organizations, including the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, Business Council of Canada and associations representing industries from automotive and fertilizer to retail and mining, urged the government to do whatever it takes to end the work stoppage.
“While we acknowledge efforts to continue with mediation, parties have not been able to come to a negotiated agreement,” the letter says. “So, the federal government must take decisive action, using every tool at its disposal to resolve this dispute and limit the damage caused by this disruption.
“We simply cannot afford to once again put Canadian businesses at risk, which in turn puts Canadian livelihoods at risk.”
In the meantime, the union says it has filed a complaint to the Canada Industrial Relations Board against the employers, alleging the association threatened to pull existing conditions out of the last contract in direct contact with its members.
“The BCMEA is trying to undermine the union by attempting to turn members against its democratically elected leadership and bargaining committee — despite the fact that the BCMEA knows full well we received a 96 per cent mandate to take job action if needed,” union president Frank Morena said in a statement.
The employers have responded by calling the complaint “another meritless claim,” adding the final offer to the union that includes a 19.2 per cent wage increase over a four-year term remains on the table.
“The final offer has been on the table for over a week and represents a fair and balanced proposal for employees, and if accepted would end this dispute,” the employers’ statement says. “The offer does not require any concessions from the union.”
The union says the offer does not address the key issue of staffing requirement at the terminals as the port introduces more automation to cargo loading and unloading, which could potentially require fewer workers to operate than older systems.
The Port of Vancouver is the largest in Canada and has seen a number of labour disruptions, including two instances involving the rail and grain storage sectors earlier this year.
A 13-day strike by another group of workers at the port last year resulted in the disruption of a significant amount of shipping and trade.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 9, 2024.
The Royal Canadian Legion says a new partnership with e-commerce giant Amazon is helping boost its veterans’ fund, and will hopefully expand its donor base in the digital world.
Since the Oct. 25 launch of its Amazon.ca storefront, the legion says it has received nearly 10,000 orders for poppies.
Online shoppers can order lapel poppies on Amazon in exchange for donations or buy items such as “We Remember” lawn signs, Remembrance Day pins and other accessories, with all proceeds going to the legion’s Poppy Trust Fund for Canadian veterans and their families.
Nujma Bond, the legion’s national spokesperson, said the organization sees this move as keeping up with modern purchasing habits.
“As the world around us evolves we have been looking at different ways to distribute poppies and to make it easier for people to access them,” she said in an interview.
“This is definitely a way to reach a wider number of Canadians of all ages. And certainly younger Canadians are much more active on the web, on social media in general, so we’re also engaging in that way.”
Al Plume, a member of a legion branch in Trenton, Ont., said the online store can also help with outreach to veterans who are far from home.
“For veterans that are overseas and are away, (or) can’t get to a store they can order them online, it’s Amazon.” Plume said.
Plume spent 35 years in the military with the Royal Engineers, and retired eight years ago. He said making sure veterans are looked after is his passion.
“I’ve seen the struggles that our veterans have had with Veterans Affairs … and that’s why I got involved, with making sure that the people get to them and help the veterans with their paperwork.”
But the message about the Amazon storefront didn’t appear to reach all of the legion’s locations, with volunteers at Branch 179 on Vancouver’s Commercial Drive saying they hadn’t heard about the online push.
Holly Paddon, the branch’s poppy campaign co-ordinator and bartender, said the Amazon partnership never came up in meetings with other legion volunteers and officials.
“I work at the legion, I work with the Vancouver poppy office and I go to the meetings for the Vancouver poppy campaign — which includes all the legions in Vancouver — and not once has this been mentioned,” she said.
Paddon said the initiative is a great idea, but she would like to have known more about it.
The legion also sells a larger collection of items at poppystore.ca.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 9, 2024.
