As Canada welcomes an unprecedented number of migrants, Canadians are becoming increasingly concerned about the lack of integration of newcomers.
According to a national survey conducted by Leger for the Association for Canadian Studies, 25% of Canadians believe immigrants should give up their customs and traditions once they arrive.
That sentiment is felt strongest among Canadians aged 55 and older and in the province of Quebec, where one-in-three respondents said that immigrants’ cultural practices should be left at the door.
“Top of mind, Canadians will cite economic reasons when expressing concern about numbers of immigrants, but there is an underlying concern about newcomer integration and the exacerbation of inter-group tensions,” ACS chief executive Jack Jedwab told National Post.
While the majority of Canadians think it’s important to pass their customs and traditions down to future generations (76%), those aged between 18 and 34 were less likely to feel that way, at 65%.
According to Jedwab, there is an “ironic” notion that Canadians simultaneously support passing on culture and traditions in a country “where nearly half the population are immigrants and their children,” which he believes is tied to Canadians not wanting newcomers to prioritize their religious identity above all else.
“But it’s likely a function of some discomfort with certain manifestations of religious identities,” said Jedwab.
One-third of respondents said they believed the fastest way for religious minorities to integrate would be to cease wearing overtly religious symbols, with those aged 55 and older holding this sentiment the strongest at 39%.
Men were also more likely to hold this view, compared to women at 35% and 29%, respectively.
Only 22% of respondents aged 18 to 24 shared that belief.
Provincially, 47% of Quebecers agreed with this sentiment, followed by 31% of Manitobans and Saskatchewans.
That figure dropped to 28% in Atlantic Canada, Alberta and British Columbia, followed by another drop to 26% in Ontario.
Jewwab called the survey’s findings “troubling,” saying that it’s a “view that risks promoting stigmatization of persons for whom their religious identity is important.”
Additionally, a Leger poll from October found that the majority of Canadians think that there are “too many” immigrants overall in Canada, a sentiment that has steadily been on the rise since 2019.
While just over a fifth of respondents said that they thought Canada’s immigration levels were “about the right number,” and around 2% there were “too few” immigrants, 65% said there are too many.
While the economy was cited as the primary concern in relation to there being “too many” immigrants, the latest data reveals that there are cultural implications to this sentiment as well.
“It suggests that there is a link being made by an increasing number of Canadians between the numbers that are being admitted to the country and the effectiveness of newcomer integration, a view held widely in the U.S. and Europe and too often accompanied by toxic debates that stigmatize newcomers and that (we) want to avoid at all costs,” said Jedwab.
“We’ll see if the federal government’s recent reduction in immigration levels modifies the perception. That said, the reduction in levels does have some ramifications for our future demographic well-being.”
Of the cohort who believe there are too many immigrants, 51% say there are “too many” Muslims while 19% say there are “too many” Jews in Canada.
“The survey reveals that underlying negative sentiment towards immigrants in Canada is a disproportionate degree of negative sentiment towards Muslims,” said Jedwab.
“It suggests an exacerbation of a persistent trend and rise of a worrisome backlash accompanied by more stereotyping of Muslims.”
