A new poll conducted by the Léger firm shows that a majority of Canadians believe that increased immigration is fueling the housing crisis and putting pressure on health systems.
And another part of the survey on federal voting intentions concludes that the Conservative Party (PCC) maintains its considerable lead over the Liberal Party (PLC) in power.
The poll, conducted last Friday through Sunday, concluded that about three-quarters of respondents believe the increase in immigrants adds strain to both the housing market and the health care system. And 63% add that the number of new arrivals is also putting pressure on the country’s education systems.
Still, about three-quarters of respondents agree that higher immigration contributes to the country’s cultural diversity, and 63 percent believe the arrival of younger immigrants contributes to the labor force and tax base that support older generations.
In 2022, Canada’s population increased by more than one million people, including 607,782 non-permanent residents and 437,180 immigrants. Léger notes that compared to March 2022, the proportion of Canadians who say they want the country to welcome more immigrants than in the past has fallen from 17% to 9%.
More and more people also believe that Canada should welcome fewer immigrants, this figure having jumped from 39% to 48%.
Léger’s executive vice-president, Christian Bourque, believes that more and more Canadians seem to associate immigration with problems such as access to affordable housing. “The composition of the country and the problems it faces are a little different than they were before the pandemic,” in his opinion.
The federal government has rapidly increased its annual immigration targets. Additionally, the number of temporary residents in Canada is also exploding; next year and in 2025 it will reach 485,000 and 500,000, respectively.
Just over half of respondents to the Léger poll, 53%, believe these numbers are too high, while 28% argue that Canada is close to admitting the right number of immigrants. Only 4% think the country did not welcome enough immigrants.
Immigration Minister Marc Miller tabled new targets in Parliament earlier this month, calling for the number of new permanent residents to remain at 500,000 in 2026.
At the same time, the latest Léger poll on federal voting intentions shows that the Conservatives maintain a 14-point lead over the Liberals, with 40% of respondents saying they would probably vote for the Conservatives if an election had taken place at the time of the poll. . Another 26% said they would vote for the Liberals and 20% for the New Democratic Party (NDP).
Only 29% of respondents say they are very or somewhat satisfied with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government, a figure that has fallen in recent months.
A quarter of respondents said Conservative Party Leader Pierre Poilievre would be the best prime minister, a drop of four percentage points from October, while Justin Trudeau has the support of 19% of respondents. question, compared to 17% for NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh.
According to Christian Bourque, the low support given to the leaders, compared to that given to their parties, suggests that the question of leadership could become a central point of federal politics.
To carry out this survey, Léger interviewed 1,529 people online. Although the results have been statistically weighted, no margin of error can be assigned to them.