Canada – Less enthusiastic about immigrants

Canadian hearts are hardening slightly towards the country’s immigrants, particularly when it comes to their impact on the economy, an internal government survey suggests.

The latest results of the Citizenship and Immigration tracking survey — conducted every year since 1996 to gauge public opinion on immigration — suggest that national attitudes towards both the number and the value of Canadian immigrants are shifting.

The 2012 survey, obtained under access to information laws, found the number of Canadian respondents who said they felt immigration was having a positive effect on the economy was 56 per cent — a decline of 10 percentage points from the 2010 survey.

The number of respondents who said they believe immigration has a positive impact on Canadian culture came in at 40 per cent, a decline of between 16 to 18 per cent from 2010 levels.

“Findings from the 2012 tracking study suggest that attitudes towards immigration levels and the impact of immigration are somewhat tightening up,” says an analysis of the results done by the department.

Canadians less enthusiastic about immigrants, survey finds
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http://www.theprovince.com/Immigration%20Canadians%20less%20enthusiastic%20about%20benefits/7471416/story.html