Overview
- Environics data show a rapid turn since 2023, with 58% in 2024 agreeing there is too much immigration—the most negative sentiment since the early 1990s.
- Those aged 18 to 29 now register the highest opposition, with researchers saying they connect population growth to soaring rents and diminished homeownership prospects.
- Permanent resident admissions hit nearly 500,000 in 2022 and 470,000 in 2023, while temporary residents peaked at about 7.6% of the population by September 2024.
- Responding to mounting concern, the government has been curbing intake since late 2023 and in November cut projected temporary-resident entries by nearly 43%, saying it is taking back control of the system.
- The profile of opposition has shifted beyond age, with the gender gap reversing, higher-income Canadians becoming less supportive, and separate polls from Nanos and Abacus confirming rising public concern.