Four out of five Ontarians want a total pause on immigration until economic and healthcare crises are resolved domestically.
Canada’s annual population growth reached record highs with 40.77 million last year. In 2023, Canada brought in 1.27 million newcomers, up by 3.2% from the previous year.
According to a provincial survey commissioned by True North and conducted by One Persuasion, a national research group, 84.3% of Ontario residents agree that immigration should be paused until domestic problems are dealt with.
The survey asked a nationally representative panel of 1,003 Ontarian adults their thoughts on immigration between Nov. 14 and 15, 2024. Using the most recent data from Statistics Canada, the results have been statistically weighted for accuracy by age, gender, region, and past provincial vote. The study reports a margin of error of no greater than 3.1%, nineteen times out of twenty.
When asked if they agreed or disagreed that Canada should pause immigration until domestic crises, such as the housing, health care, and cost-of-living crises, are resolved, 51.2% said they agreed strongly, and 33.1% said they moderately agreed.
Only 15.7% of Ontarians said they either moderately disagreed that it should be paused, 12.2%, or “strongly disagreed” with the question.
Ontarians in the 905 region, including the Greater Toronto Area, were the most likely to agree with the sentiment, with 90% in favour. Notably, 55% of respondents in this area “strongly agreed.”
Among Eastern Ontarians, 22% disagreed, though nearly four-fifths, 78%, still said they think immigration should be paused.
Males aged 55 and over were the most likely to say the government needs to pause immigration until issues at home are sorted out, with 91% agreeing.
However, males aged 18-35 were the least likely to think the government should halt immigration. Still nearly three-quarters said it should be paused. Males in this age group were also the most likely out of the groups to say the government shouldn’t pause immigration, with 21% disagreeing, though only 7% strongly disagreed.
Most Ontarians who made less than $50,000 in household income last year agree there needs to be an immigration break, with 92% saying it should be paused. 56% of those said they feel strongly about the issue.
Conversely, respondents with over $150,000 in household income had the highest disagreement rates with the sentiment. Seventeen percent disagreed with the question in general, although only 4% said they strongly disagreed.
Postgraduate students were the most likely to say the government should continue letting in new immigrants before the economic and healthcare crises are resolved. However, most of those, 19%, said they agreed with the sentiment only moderately.
For respondents with a high school education or less, 90% said the issues should be solved before adding more immigrants to the province, with 61% reporting strong views on the matter.
Ontarians who voted for Premier Doug Ford’s Progressive Conservative party in the last provincial election in 2022 widely agreed that it should be paused. Sixty-nine percent said they strongly agreed, while 23% said they did so moderately.
The results for federal Conservative voters in the last election in 2021 were even more dramatic. Ninety-five percent of Ontarian CPC supporters said it needed to stop, and 75% of those said so adamantly.
Liberal and NDP supporters, both federally and provincially, were more likely to say that the number of newcomers to Canada should continue to grow despite the domestic problems. They were also more likely to have moderate agreement or disagreement about it.
Nearly a quarter of provincial Liberal voters said the government should continue inviting newcomers, with 18% strongly disagreeing that immigration should be paused, though 78% still agreed that it should. Twenty-two percent of provincial NDP voters said it should continue, and 17% said they disagreed strongly with the question.
Federal NDPers were the most likely to want the immigration train to keep rolling. Twenty-three percent disagreed that immigration should be paused. Only 6% said they had moderate feelings towards it.
The majority of those who voted for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Liberal party in the last election think that it’s time to stop immigration, too. Eighty-two percent of Liberal voters said it should be halted, with a nearly even split. Forty-two percent said they felt strongly that immigration must stop until domestic issues are sorted, and 40% said they felt strongly or moderately about it.