Canada’s anti-immigrant sentiment softening, according to new poll

Canadians in the Atlantic region and on the Prairies are most likely to think there are too many immigrants coming to this country while British Columbians and Quebecers are least likely to see it that way, according to a new poll.

When you look at all 10 provinces, 45 per cent of Canadians polled said we have too many immigrants, 31 per cent indicated we have about the right number, and 13 per cent said we don’t have enough, according to the poll conducted earlier this month by EKOS for the Association for Canadian Studies.

“We’re still seeing the large plurality of Canadians saying there are too many immigrants,” said Jack Jedwab, the association’s president.

“But clearly relative to the previous three years, we are seeing some change in feeling around that and some loosening of concern on the part of Canadians.”

Manitoba and Saskatchewan respondents were most likely to say Canada has too many immigrants (52 per cent), followed by Atlantic Canada (50 per cent), then Alberta and Ontario (both at 46 per cent).

British Columbians were least likely to say Canada has too many immigrants (39 per cent), followed closely by Quebecers (40 per cent).

The poll comes ahead of Mark Carney’s Liberal government announcing immigration levels for the next three years in the coming weeks before presenting a budget on Nov. 5.

British Columbians topped the list of those who said Canada has about the right number of immigrants (34 per cent), followed by Alberta and Quebec (both at 32 per cent). Those polled in Manitoba and Saskatchewan were least likely to say Canada has the right number of immigrants (26 per cent).

British Columbians were also the most likely to say Canada doesn’t have enough immigrants (18 per cent), followed by Quebec (16 per cent), Atlantic Canada (13 per cent), and Ontario (12 per cent).

Immigration concerns have declined across the board, but they’re still high in Atlantic Canada and lowest in B.C. and Quebec, according to the poll.

Quebecers were most likely to strongly agree with the need for a common set of values (42 per cent strongly agreed with that, and another 42 per cent somewhat agree).

Only 31 per cent of respondents in Manitoba and Saskatchewan strongly agreed with the need for a common set of values, while 42 per cent somewhat agreed.

But a near equal share believes cohesion requires people accepting others with different values, according to the poll.

In all 10 provinces, 40 per cent of respondents strongly agreed with that statement, while another 39 per cent somewhat agreed.

Those who indicated Canada has too many immigrants was down 13 percentage points from a separate Leger poll conducted in March 2025. Those who say we don’t have enough was up 10 percentage points over that same period.

In Atlantic Canada, the number of respondents indicating there are too many immigrants has dropped eight percentage points since March 2025, from 58 per cent to 50 per cent.

In B.C., that number dropped 17 percentage points from 56 per cent in March 2025 to 39 per cent. In Quebec it tumbled 18 percentage points to 40 per cent.

For all 10 provinces, immigration concerns have fallen 13 percentage points from March 2025 until this month, from 58 per cent to 45 per cent.

The new poll indicates a majority of Canadians believe that a cohesive society requires a common set of values. For all 10 provinces, 39 per cent of those polled strongly agreed with that sentiment, while 44 per cent somewhat agreed with it.

Among those who feel Canada has too many immigrants, 89 per cent say social cohesion requires shared common values. Sixty-four per cent of them say it requires accepting different values.

“The people who believe that we need shared common values for cohesion are far more inclined to say there are too many immigrants,” Jedwab said.

“On the other hand, those saying we need to accept different values are far more inclined to say that we’ve got about the right number or, in fact, not enough.”

We're still seeing the large plurality of Canadians saying there are too many immigrants

Among those who say Canada has too many immigrants, 51 per cent indicated they’re very attached to Canada.

“These people are saying, ‘I don’t feel as good about Canada because there are too many immigrants,'” Jedwab said.

That attachment jumps to 70 per cent for the folks who think we have the right number of newcomers.

Immigrants are less likely than non-immigrants to feel that there are too many immigrants, according to the poll.

Among those born here, 47 per cent said we have too many immigrants, 31 per cent indicated the number’s about right, and 12 per cent indicated there’s not enough.

For those born outside Canada, 35 per cent said we have too many immigrants, 29 per cent said the number’s about right and 20 per cent said there’s not enough.

“Some of the softening we’re seeing in attitudes towards immigration seem to be coming from that immigrant cohort whose anxiety I think is also diminishing,” Jedwab said.

The survey of 1,222 Canadian adults was conducted online Oct. 9-15 using EKOS’ Probit research panel.

The national margin of error is ±2.8 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.

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