‘Somewhat conflicted’ views. Government-commissioned research has Ottawa holding line on 2011 targets
By NORMA GREENAWAY
Postmedia News
November 12, 2010
Canadians’ enthusiasm for accepting more immigrants has marked limits, according to research commissioned by the Harper government before it announced last week that it was holding the line on immigration next year.
The research warned that Canadians are less inclined to feel that immigration strengthens Canadian culture than they were earlier in the decade and that fully 36 per cent of those surveyed said they believe immigration increases unemployment among Canadians.
The findings -based on a wide-ranging survey -said Canadians hold generally positive but “somewhat conflicted” views on immigration and diversity in Canada.
Immigration Minister Jason Kenney reflected the cautionary tone of the research as he explained last week why the federal government decided to keep the 2011 target for accepting permanent residents the same as last year’s -between 240,000 and 265,0000.
“I think Canadians are generally supportive of immigration,” Kenney told reporters last week. “I don’t, however, think they want to see huge increases beyond where we already are.”
Kenney attributed the government’s stand-pat position to the “fragile” nature of the economic recovery. He was at pains to stress, however, immigrants would be a crucical addition in the coming years as Canada’s homegrown labour pool shrinks.
Ekos Research and Associates was hired by the government to conduct its annual tracking survey on Canadian attitudes toward immigration. The firm’s findings, delivered to the government in April and recently made public, were based on telephone interviews with 1,530 adults, including 300 new Canadians.
The firm’s report says the findings reveal Canadians tend to view the impact of immigration on the economy in a more favourable light than they view the impact of immigration on Canadian culture. It says many Canadians express “fairly high levels” of cultural insecurity when asked about immigration and diversity, especially religious diversity.
“Therefore, the benefits of immigration should be more closely connected to economic rather than cultural impacts,” the firm advised.
“Further, when communicating the economic impacts of immigration, the focus should be on the economy overall, rather than on unemployment specifically (which is more negatively perceived by Canadians).”
The firm also said that while 71 per cent of respondents said they felt immigration was good for Canada, the number declined to 48 per cent when asked if they thought it was good for their neighbourhood.
The firm said that if the government wants to increase support for immigration among opponents, the groups to target would be older Canadians and those with lower income and education levels.
Among the findings:
– ¦More than half of Canadians (54 per cent) said they think the number of immigrants coming to Canada is about right, up from 49 per cent in 2004.
– ¦Almost one in four (23 per cent) said there are too many immigrants, down from 31 per cent in 2004;
– ¦A majority (57 per cent) said they feel accepting immigrants from many different cultures makes Canadian culture stronger, down from 61 per cent in 2004;
– ¦ Four in 10 said they feel religious diversity means we have less in common as Canadians.
‘Somewhat conflicted’ views. Government-commissioned research has Ottawa holding line on 2011 targets
By NORMA GREENAWAY
Postmedia News
November 12, 2010
Canadians’ enthusiasm for accepting more immigrants has marked limits, according to research commissioned by the Harper government before it announced last week that it was holding the line on immigration next year.
The research warned that Canadians are less inclined to feel that immigration strengthens Canadian culture than they were earlier in the decade and that fully 36 per cent of those surveyed said they believe immigration increases unemployment among Canadians.
The findings -based on a wide-ranging survey -said Canadians hold generally positive but “somewhat conflicted” views on immigration and diversity in Canada.
Immigration Minister Jason Kenney reflected the cautionary tone of the research as he explained last week why the federal government decided to keep the 2011 target for accepting permanent residents the same as last year’s -between 240,000 and 265,0000.
“I think Canadians are generally supportive of immigration,” Kenney told reporters last week. “I don’t, however, think they want to see huge increases beyond where we already are.”
Kenney attributed the government’s stand-pat position to the “fragile” nature of the economic recovery. He was at pains to stress, however, immigrants would be a crucical addition in the coming years as Canada’s homegrown labour pool shrinks.
Ekos Research and Associates was hired by the government to conduct its annual tracking survey on Canadian attitudes toward immigration. The firm’s findings, delivered to the government in April and recently made public, were based on telephone interviews with 1,530 adults, including 300 new Canadians.
The firm’s report says the findings reveal Canadians tend to view the impact of immigration on the economy in a more favourable light than they view the impact of immigration on Canadian culture. It says many Canadians express “fairly high levels” of cultural insecurity when asked about immigration and diversity, especially religious diversity.
“Therefore, the benefits of immigration should be more closely connected to economic rather than cultural impacts,” the firm advised.
“Further, when communicating the economic impacts of immigration, the focus should be on the economy overall, rather than on unemployment specifically (which is more negatively perceived by Canadians).”
The firm also said that while 71 per cent of respondents said they felt immigration was good for Canada, the number declined to 48 per cent when asked if they thought it was good for their neighbourhood.
The firm said that if the government wants to increase support for immigration among opponents, the groups to target would be older Canadians and those with lower income and education levels.
Among the findings:
–
