Vast majority of immigrants found life in Canada “more expensive” than expected, widening tensions over cultural assimilation

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The overwhelming majority of immigrants who arrived in Canada within the last decade say that life is “more expensive” than they anticipated, according to a new national poll.

The Leger survey found that 84 per cent of recent arrivals to Canada agreed that life is either “significantly” or “somewhat” pricier than they originally envisioned prior to immigrating. Meanwhile, just two per cent of respondents felt that the cost of living was “less expensive” than initially thought.

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This is unwelcome news for Canadian newcomers, given that seven in ten cited economic concerns as a primary reason for coming to the Great White North. This was followed by almost half (45 per cent) of respondents citing educational opportunities and 18 per cent were aimed at family reunification.

“A core aim for Canada’s immigration strategy is to bolster the labour force, and therefore we draw in immigrants in search of economic opportunity,” Shanze Khan, a senior research director with Leger, told National Post in an email. “However, many newcomers encounter significant barriers in the job market, especially with credential recognition, contributing to economic pressures felt across the board.”

The economic concerns of new arrivals are a grievance increasingly shared by the Canadian public more broadly.

Inflation is the leading worry for both groups (34 per cent for Canadians and 29 per cent for newcomers), followed in a slightly different order by the state of health care — the second highest concern for Canadians (17 per cent) and fourth highest for newcomers (11 per cent) — real estate affordability (10 and 15 per cent, respectively), and the economy and jobs (six and 19 per cent, respectively).

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The overlap presents a unique challenge for Ottawa and various levels of government seeking to grapple with the growing unaffordability of Canadian life, which many citizens feel is being fuelled by large-scale immigration in recent years.

The percentage of the country made up of immigrants has steadily climbed from slightly over 15 per cent in 1971 to nearly a quarter (23 per cent) in 2021. This trend will likely increase over the coming years. In 2022 and 2023, Canada welcomed more than one million temporary and permanent immigrants each year, budging the national population to over 40 million last June.

These trends have highlighted a core tension for citizens between the cost of living and open borders. According to a recent Postmedia-Leger poll, half of Canadians now feel there are too many immigrants in the country, up from just 21 per cent in January 2023. Notably, close to half (42 per cent) of new arrivals also agree that current levels of immigration are unsustainably high and are stressing existing social services and infrastructure, and raising affordability concerns.

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“The issue doesn’t seem to lie with immigration policy directly — neither Canadians nor newcomers seem to think that is the root problem. The concern is around adding a strain on existing infrastructures such as housing or health-care systems,” Khan wrote.

At a policy level, Lisa Covens, a senior vice president with Leger, told the Post that “to combat the growing belief that perhaps the number of immigrants allowed into Canada should be decreased, all levels of government should focus on affordable housing, jobs and the economy, and the state of health care for all Canadians, including newcomers.”

Despite the growing economic friction immigration inspires, the most recent poll found that the vast majority of newcomers (82 per cent) feel welcomed in the country, and nearly three-quarters (74 per cent) believe they are well-integrated within Canadian society. Sixty per cent consider themselves Canadian and two-thirds of new arrivals agree that they would make the journey all over again if they had to.

Notably, white as well as Black, Indigenous, and people of colour (BIPOC) immigrants felt welcome at 86 and 82 per cent, respectively. Filipino (92 per cent), Black (88 per cent), Latin American (87 per cent) and Southeast Asian (87 per cent) BIPOC immigrants felt the most supported, while Middle East/North African (77 per cent), Chinese (77 per cent) and South Asian (75 per cent) felt the least supported.

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The poll also found that tensions have widened between Canadians and recent immigrants on the expectations of new arrivals and cultural assimilation once arriving in Canada.

While more than half of immigrants (52 per cent) feel that they should be encouraged to “maintain and promote their own cultural and religious identities,” that level of support halves (26 per cent) when the general population is polled. Today, more than half (55 per cent) of Canadian citizens endorse a view of cultural assimilation, whereby newcomers should “embrace broad mainstream values and traditions and leave behind elements of their cultural identity that may be incompatible.”

New Canadians and the general population (51 and 56 per cent, respectively) also shared a nuanced view of diversity as a national strength that can exhibit some elements which “can cause problems.” Over four in ten new arrivals (42 per cent) believe “diversity is definitely a strength for Canada,” while about a quarter (24 per cent) of citizens feel the same way. A similar percentage of Canadians (21 per cent) hold the opposing view: that diversity can “cause problems” and create tensions within the country. Less than a tenth of immigrants (seven per cent) agree.

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“It’s not that Canadians undervalue the diversity brought by immigrants — 76 per cent acknowledge the significant contribution of immigration to Canada’s cultural diversity,” Khan told the Post. “The challenge lies in finding the equilibrium between celebrating diversity and aligning with mainstream Canadian values, a balance we are still in the process of defining. Importantly, this doesn’t have to be a dichotomy, and perhaps as we figure out our changing demographic, there may be room for multiple value systems to coexist.”

The poll was conducted between Dec. 14, 2023 and Feb. 16, 2024 via Leger’s online LEO panel, with a sample of 2,104 newcomers who have arrived in Canada in the past 10 years. The results were weighted to reflect the 2021 census. A margin of error cannot be associated with a non-probability sample in a panel survey. For comparison purposes, a probability sample of 2,104 respondents would have a margin of error of plus or minus 2.1 per cent, 19 times out of 20.

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