Concerns about immigration have been increasing in Canada for two years. But this phenomenon is less marked in Quebec, reveals a new Environics survey. Whatever the questions – on the number of immigrants, on the link between immigration and crime, on refugee status – Quebec respondents show more openness than those from the rest of Canada.
Posted at 11:00 p.m.
A clear majority of Canadians from other provinces, 62%, or almost two-thirds, believe that there are too many immigrants. But this is not the case in Quebec, where this perception, much less widespread, is not the majority, shared by 46% of respondents to an Environics survey, published on October 17.
The results of this poll go in the same direction as another survey by Angus Reid made public a month ago, and seem to indicate that Quebecers show less concern about immigration in general and have less negative perceptions.
PHOTO CATHERINE LEFEBVRE, ARCHIVES SPECIAL COLLABORATION
Anait Aleksanian, director of the Immigrant Community Support Center
“I’m not surprised,” says Anait Aleksanian, director of the Immigrant Community Support Center (CACI) in Montreal. “Quebec is very welcoming and very open. That means we don’t mind immigration. »
Jean-Pierre Corbeil, professor in the sociology department at Laval University, agrees. “For many years, the “rest of Canada”, or ROC, prided itself on being more welcoming and less resistant to immigration,” he observes.
However, over the last five years, the ROC has begun to realize that the strong surge in immigration is beginning to pose a problem and to worry it.
Jean-Pierre Corbeil, professor in the sociology department of Laval University
Since the turn of the century, the perception that there are too many immigrants has declined steadily, both in Canada and in Quebec. But we have seen a reversal of the trend over the past two years.
In the rest of Canada, in 2022, 33% of respondents believed that there was too much immigration to Canada. The jump to 62%, two years later, is significant. In Quebec, the turnaround is also present, but less marked, with a jump from 25% to 46%.
Asylum seekers
There are also different views on asylum seekers.
When asked whether or not they agreed with the statement “Many people who say they are refugees are not real refugees,” the proportion of Canadians from other provinces who answered “yes” increased from 41% to 45%. In Quebec, we observe an opposite movement. In 2022, this perception was more widespread than elsewhere in Canada, at 46%, undoubtedly because of Roxham Road. But this negative sentiment has decreased to 38% in 2024, a significant gap with the rest of Canada.
We also note that, among respondents believing that there are too many immigrants, the idea that “refugees exert a heavy burden on the social security system” is more widespread in English Canada than in Quebec – 57% in the ROC, compared to 47% in Quebec.
The results of this survey, like that of Angus Reid, seem to deviate from a widespread idea that Quebecers, within Canada, are more intolerant and closed to immigration.
“The greater “positivity” of Quebecers has long been known among aficionados of the field in Canada,” assures economist Pierre Fortin. But it bears repeating, because we are so used to believing what others think of us – that we are a bunch of racists – that saying it once is not enough. »
PHOTO FRANÇOIS ROY, LA PRESSE ARCHIVES
The economist Pierre Fortin
On the other hand, unfortunately, federal policy and Quebec negligence which together led to the recent migratory explosion have led Quebecers, like other Canadians, to be many more numerous than before to find that there are too many immigration to Canada.
Pierre Fortin, economist
The results of this survey may also suggest the fact that there is a gap between citizens’ perceptions and the political debate, in particular the feeling of urgency expressed by the Quebec government or the wish of Prime Minister François Legault that the asylum seekers become the ballot box issue in a federal election.
In this regard, in response to a question on what is the most important problem in Canada, respondents, Canadians or Quebecers, mentioned inflation, housing, the economy and health. Concerns about immigration are only a priority for 4% of Canadians and 3% of Quebecers.
On questions that can measure prejudice against newcomers, Quebecers also showed more openness. “Canada accepts too many immigrants belonging to racial minority groups”: 40% in the ROC, 34% in Quebec. “There are too many immigrants who come to this country who do not adopt Canadian values”: 58% in the ROC and 53% in Quebec.
Likewise, the idea that immigration increases the crime rate is significantly less widespread in Quebec, at 23%, than in Canada as a whole (35%), in Ontario (40%) or in Alberta ( 48%).
