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Now, younger Canadians turn against immigration due to rising concern over housing affordability

CHANDIGARH: Blaming the housing affordability, now the younger people are turning against an increased intake of newcomers. In Canada, a public opinion on immigration shifted dramatically twice in the past 30 years. These were the findings in a recent paper, 'Who Changed Their Minds? Two Shifts in Canadian Public Opinion on Immigration: 1995-2005 and 2023-24', published by the Institute of Research on Public Policys Centre of Excellence on the Canadian Federation. The paper written by Randy Besco, an associate professor at the University of Toronto and Natasha Goel, a scholar there, stated that the Canadian public opinion on immigration shifted dramatically twice in the past 30 years. It became more positive between 1995-2005 and then more negative in 2023-24. The brief on immigration was based on over 40 years of surveys conducted by the Environics Institute to compare shifts in the opinions of different demographic groups. Overall, the 1990s-2000s shift was remarkably broad-based, with most groups following the general pro-immigration trend and previous gaps due to education and immigrant status narrowing. However, the 2023-24 shift was quite different. First, it was primarily an anglophone phenomenon, with francophone and Quebec respondents showing less movement. Second, the gender gap has flipped: previously, men were more supportive, but now women are. Third, the role of age has reversed: in the past, older people were more likely to say there is too much immigration, but now it is young people espousing that view. Recent shifts are clearly a new phenomenon, rather than simply a reversion of previous changes, it reads. Canadas new immigration rules: What are the reforms and how do they impact migrants and aspirants It further stated, he average opposition to immigration for four different age groups from 1980 to 2025. In general, over that time frame, older respondents tended to think there was too much immigration. These differences were modest, however, and shifts occurred over time in all age groups. The mid-1990s to mid-2000s decline is evident across all groups, and all groups clearly expressed increased opposition to immigration in 2024. Strikingly, however, the age gradient was reversed in 2024. Respondents aged 18-29 showed the most opposition, with 32 per cent strongly agreeing there was too much immigration. Ontario and Alberta often had the highest anti-immigration sentiment, but this was not always the case, nor was it by a substantial amount. Some people assume that opinion in Quebec is generally more anti-immigration due to political debates around reasonable accommodation and preservation of the French language. In 2024, only 22 per cent of Quebec respondents strongly agreed there were too many immigrants much lower than the next lowest province, British Columbia, at 32 per cent, and far less than the highest, Alberta, at 42 per cent, the paper adds. It states,Previously, women had been slightly more likely than men to think there was too much immigration. In 2024, the gender gap for strongly agree that there is too much immigration was eight percentage points (men 37, women 29), compared to just two years earlier when it was only two percentage points (men 14, women 12). The conclusion that the 2023-24 shift to much greater concern over immigration is quite different. The most striking reversal is seen in the generational divide. Older Canadians had long been less positive about immigrants. However, in the latest surveys, younger respondents expressed higher levels of opposition. This change may reflect concern about the housing affordability crisis, which disproportionately affects younger Canadians. High rents and limited prospects for home ownership, combined with media coverage and statements by politicians, may be leading younger respondents to link immigration to their economic anxieties. It adds that the 2025 federal budget, presented on November 4, reinforced the sweeping changes to Canadas immigration policy first announced a year earlier. These changes include a 21 per cent drop in the target for new permanent residents in 2025, with further decreases into 2027. The 2025 budget also announced a sharp decrease in temporary residents admissions, including stricter rules for temporary workers and international students (Government of Canada, 2025). The background to these shifts was a prevailing narrative that rapid population growth partly fuelled by the influx of temporary foreign workers and international students had aggravated the existing affordability crisis by helping to fuel a mismatch between housing supply and demand. Canada Immigration Law Reforms | Changes to immigration policies could hit Indian migrants hard