POLL: 48% of Canadians favor mass deportations of illegal immigrants

12/17/2024 / By Laura Harris

A Leger poll for ACS reveals that 48 percent of Canadians now support mass deportations of illegal immigrants, influenced by growing unease over the number of immigrants entering the country.
65 percent of Canadians now believe the country accepts too many legal immigrants, up from 35 percent in 2019, driven by concerns over housing costs and employment competition, despite the federal government reducing annual immigration targets.
Canadians have mixed feelings about immigrants’ role in the economy and society. While 49 percent believe immigrants benefit the economy and 70 percent agree they take undesirable jobs, 40 percent think immigrants are taking jobs from Canadians and 33 percent see them as a threat to the Canadian way of life.
The survey shows stark contrasts between those who believe there are too many immigrants and those who do not, particularly on economic contributions and support for deportation policies.
Housing costs and employment challenges have become central issues, with many Canadians blaming newcomers for rising prices and labor market issues, leading to demands for stricter immigration controls

A new Leger poll conducted for the Association for Canadian Studies (ACS) has found that nearly half of Canadians now favor mass deportations of illegal immigrants.

According to Statistics Canada, Canada intercepted 865 irregular border crossers in the first nine months of 2024. But despite these relatively low numbers compared to the U.S., public perception has been shaped by increased refugee claims following illegal border crossings in 2023, totaling 31,520, up from 20,896 in 2022.

In response to the growing unease, the federal government has announced reductions to its annual immigration targets, aiming for 395,000 new permanent residents in 2025, 380,000 in 2026 and 365,000 in 2027, down from the previous target of 500,000 newcomers per year. (Related: POLL: Majority of Americans support the mass deportation of illegal immigrants.)

But even with these cuts, public opinion remains largely unchanged.

Based on the online survey, conducted among 1,539 Canadians from Nov. 22 to 24, 67 percent of respondents were aware of the reduction stating that the numbers are still too high. In line with this, the poll revealed that 65 percent of Canadians now believe the country is accepting too many legal immigrants, a sharp increase from 50 percent in February and 35 percent in March 2019.

This shift in public opinion coincides with rising concerns over housing costs and employment competition, often blamed on high immigration levels.

Canadians have differing views on the role of immigrants in their country

Despite this shift in sentiment regarding mass deportation, Canadians’ views on the role of immigrants in their society are mixed.

Forty-nine percent of respondents believe that immigrants are generally good for the economy, and 70 percent agree that immigrants take jobs that Canadians often do not want. Conversely, 40 percent believe that immigrants are taking jobs away from Canadians and 33 percent think they threaten the Canadian way of life. Nevertheless, 61 percent of respondents said immigrants make important cultural contributions to Canada.

“There’s a bit of ambiguity, or contradiction, in terms of the economic dimension of the issue,” Jack Jedwab, president of the ACS said. “But there’s a fairly strong perception that immigrants make an important contribution to our culture, but also a substantial percentage of people think that they’re threatening our way of life.”

The survey also revealed a stark contrast in opinions among those who believe there are too many immigrants in Canada versus those who do not.

For instance, just 39 percent of those who think there are too many immigrants believe they contribute to the national economy, compared to 80 percent of those who do not hold that view. Additionally, 63 percent of those who think there are too many immigrants support mass deportations, while only 20 percent of those who disagree do.

The impact of immigration on the job market and housing costs, in particular, has been a major point of contention. Many Canadians blame newcomers for rising housing prices and employment challenges, leading to calls for tighter immigration controls.

Follow InvasionUSA.news for more stories about the ongoing illegal immigration happening in America.

Watch new border czar Tom Homan telling Veronika Kyrylenko of the New American magazine that the U.S. border is broken by design.

This video is from The New American channel on Brighteon.com.