Most Canadians want fewer immigrants in 2025: Nanos survey

A majority of Canadians say the country should accept fewer immigrants in 2025 than it did in 2024, with nearly three-quarters saying immigration should be reduced until housing becomes more affordable, according to a Nanos survey for CTV News.

Two out of three, or 64 per cent, of Canadians surveyed said the country should accept fewer immigrants in 2025 compared to 2024. Meanwhile, about one in four, or 26 per cent, of Canadians said we should let in about the same number of immigrants, while only five per cent said we should accept more.

In August, Immigration Minister Marc Miller promised “significant” changes to the number of permanent residents let into the country, including stricter rules to reduce the stream of temporary foreign workers who were allowed into Canada in higher numbers in recent years to address the labour shortage during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Trudeau also signalled in August that there would be more changes coming this fall to reduce the number of permanent residents. And this week, Miller announced a 10 per cent reduction in the number of international student permits, which would result in “approximately 300,000 fewer study permits” issued in the next three years.

This year, the target for study permits was 364,000 – a 35 per cent decrease from the nearly 560,000 permits issued in 2023.

The government’s move came after experts – and federal public servants — warned the government that population growth was putting increasing strain on an already unsustainable housing market.

The survey also found an overwhelming number of Canadians, at 72 per cent, want the number of immigrants coming into Canada reduced until housing becomes affordable.

This includes 49 per cent who support, and 23 per cent who somewhat support, a reduction. That’s an increase since September 2023 when the same question was asked to Canadians. Back then, 35 per cent said they would support, and 24 per cent said they would somewhat support, a reduction.

Meanwhile, when it comes to Canadians’ perceptions about the impact of immigrants on the economy, 40 per cent say immigrants make the economy stronger (22 per cent) or somewhat stronger (18 per cent); while 29 per cent said they make the country either weaker (11 per cent) or somewhat weaker (18 per cent).

Broken down by region, people in the Prairies (47 per cent) were most likely to say immigrants make the economy stronger, while people in Atlantic Canada (34 per cent) were most likely to say immigrants make the economy weaker.

When it comes to refugees – people who leave their countries to escape either war, persecution or natural disasters — the Nanos survey found that more than two in five, or 46 per cent, of Canadians wanted fewer to be let in to the country. Just over one in three, or 35 per cent, said Canada should accept the same number, while 15 per cent said we should accept more.

Canada`s current immigration plan allows for between 72,000 and 76,000 refugees annually through three different resettlement streams. 

Regionally, people in the Prairies (49 per cent) were most likely to say Canada should accept fewer refugees, while Ontario had the most respondents (19 per cent) who said Canada should accept more.

“No one plans to become a refugee. Individuals gain education and experience that should not go untapped just because they become displaced, “ according to the Government of Canada in a 2023 statement.

Nanos conducted an RDD dual frame (land- and cell-lines) hybrid telephone and online random survey of 1,093 Canadians, 18 years of age or older, between August 30th and September 2nd, 2024 as part of an omnibus survey. Participants were randomly recruited by telephone using live agents and administered a survey online.

The margin of error for this survey is ±3.0 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.

This study was commissioned by CTV News and the research was conducted by Nanos Research.