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Hold immigration steady: poll
By LAURA PAYTON, PARLIAMENTARY BUREAU
Last Updated: June 30, 2010 3:08pm
http://www.winnipegsun.com/news/canada/2010/06/30/14569211.html
OTTAWA — Canadians are happy to welcome immigrants to the country, but don't want to take in any more than we already do, a new poll has found.
More than 81% of Canadians say they agree or somewhat agree immigration is good for Canada, and more than 70% say it's one of the key tools for making the economy stronger.
But 71% of people polled said they want to decrease or hold steady the number of new Canadians who arrive each year. The Nanos Research poll provided respondents the 2008 total, which was 247,202 immigrants accepted into the country.
Many economists say Canada needs to encourage immigration because the country doesn't have enough babies to replace the number of Canadians who die each year.
Nik Nanos says the poll shows Canadians welcome newcomers to the country, but there's a tension between wanting to accept immigrants and worrying about having enough jobs when the economy dips.
“When the economy is jittery, Canadians become jittery about the volume of immigrants and new Canadians that are let in,” said Nanos, head of Nanos Research.
“There's still a bit of concern about increasing the number of new Canadians into the country at this point in time. Canadians are more likely to want to see the numbers controlled and maintained,” he said.
Ontario, which was hit particularly hard by the recession, is the province with the highest percentage of people who want to scale back immigration (39%). The next highest is British Columbia at 33%.
The Institute for Research on Public Policy commissioned the poll, which featured a random phone survey of 1,008 Canadians between May 29 and June 3. The margin of error is 3.1 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.
laura.payton@sunmedia.ca
By LAURA PAYTON, PARLIAMENTARY BUREAU
Last Updated: June 30, 2010 3:08pm
http://www.winnipegsun.com/news/canada/2010/06/30/14569211.html
OTTAWA — Canadians are happy to welcome immigrants to the country, but don't want to take in any more than we already do, a new poll has found.
More than 81% of Canadians say they agree or somewhat agree immigration is good for Canada, and more than 70% say it's one of the key tools for making the economy stronger.
But 71% of people polled said they want to decrease or hold steady the number of new Canadians who arrive each year. The Nanos Research poll provided respondents the 2008 total, which was 247,202 immigrants accepted into the country.
Many economists say Canada needs to encourage immigration because the country doesn't have enough babies to replace the number of Canadians who die each year.
Nik Nanos says the poll shows Canadians welcome newcomers to the country, but there's a tension between wanting to accept immigrants and worrying about having enough jobs when the economy dips.
“When the economy is jittery, Canadians become jittery about the volume of immigrants and new Canadians that are let in,” said Nanos, head of Nanos Research.
“There's still a bit of concern about increasing the number of new Canadians into the country at this point in time. Canadians are more likely to want to see the numbers controlled and maintained,” he said.
Ontario, which was hit particularly hard by the recession, is the province with the highest percentage of people who want to scale back immigration (39%). The next highest is British Columbia at 33%.
The Institute for Research on Public Policy commissioned the poll, which featured a random phone survey of 1,008 Canadians between May 29 and June 3. The margin of error is 3.1 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.
laura.payton@sunmedia.ca
