Thursday June 18, 2025 – This year, the team at Pollara Strategic Insights is celebrating our company’s 40th anniversary. As part of our celebrations, we are digging through our archives and conducting new research through our 40th Anniversary Survey Series – in order to explore how Canada has evolved over the past four decades, from 1985 to the present. Our fourth release in this series explores Canadian views on immigration.
Across advanced democracies and emerging economies alike, immigration has shifted from being a largely technocratic policy discussion to a deeply polarizing political issue. During the current era of global migration, when many governments have promoted immigration to address aging populations, labour shortages, and economic competitiveness, public opinion has turned increasingly negative—driven by anxieties about culture, economic security, and social cohesion.
This trend includes Canada. Pollara has been tracking Canadian attitudes toward immigration for decades, and to commemorate our 40th anniversary, we revisited this critical issue in a new national study. In a recent survey of 2,500 Canadian adults conducted from April 10 to 16, we found that positive perceptions of immigration have significantly declined compared to 23 years ago. In 2002, Canadians viewed immigration positively with a net approval of +31, but by 2025, that figure has dropped dramatically to just +2, with Albertans being the most negative (-8).
The most striking finding is the sharp increase in the number of Canadians who believe immigration levels are too high. When we first posed this question in 2002, only 34 percent held that view. Today, that figure has risen to 60 percent—a substantial 26-point jump that reflects a significant and lasting shift in public sentiment. Alberta stands out as the most critical province, with 65 percent of its residents saying immigration levels are excessive. Quebec (63 percent) and Ontario (62 percent) also show high levels of concern, reinforcing a regional pattern that now poses significant political and policy challenges for the federal government.
The study finds a growing unease about the cultural implications of immigration. In 2002, most Canadians (58 percent) believed immigration enriched the national culture. By 2025, this consensus has eroded: just 33 percent of Canadians currently hold the same view, as the public is now divided on the issue. When examining the perceived cultural impact of immigration, the results across regions are particularly striking in Quebec and Alberta. Just 26 percent of Quebecers think accepting immigrants from different cultures makes our culture stronger, while 39 percent, the most of any province, think this weakens our culture. Alberta follows (29 percent strengthens/35 percent weakens), pointing to a notable undercurrent of skepticism towards multiculturalism. In contrast, more British Columbians (38 percent strengthens/31 percent weakens) and Atlantic Canadians (35 percent strengthens/28 percent weakens) express more favourable, if still cautious, assessments of immigration’s cultural contributions.
Economic concerns around immigration are more pronounced than ever. In 2002, 40 percent of Canadians believed immigration increased unemployment. Today, a majority of Canadians (52 percent) share the same view. Once again, we see interesting regional differences with Albertans (56 percent) being the most worried. Also, Canadians with college or high school education (55 percent) are particularly concerned about the impact of immigration on unemployment. In the same vein, the overall impression about immigration has soured.
The erosion of trust and support for immigration carries immediate and growing consequences for governments, which must now navigate an opinion landscape where support for immigration can no longer be taken for granted. For years, Canada’s pro-immigration stance was widely seen as a point of national pride—an expression of openness, compassion, pragmatism, and multicultural identity. However, rising economic pressures, strained public services, and growing cultural anxiety have altered the public mood and weakened the previous consensus. Governments will need to tread carefully on this policy terrain going forward.
For more survey results, see our report and Pollara Senior Advisor Andre Turcotte’s column in The Hub.
