Broken Immigration System

70% of Canadians Say: Immigration Levels Have Gone Too Far, Too Fast

 

It’s Time for Ottawa to Listen

 

-70% want to REDUCE immigration

-20% want to keep it the same or aren't sure

-5% want to increase it

Source: Nanos, Angus Reid, Leger, Innovative Research – 2024–2025 average

 

Since 2015, permanent immigration has more than tripled — while housing construction, health-care capacity, and infrastructure have not come close to keeping pace.

 

The Result?

 

- Record-high rents and home prices

- Longer waits for doctors and hospital care

- Growing pressure on schools and public services

 

Seven out of ten Canadians now say we need sustainable immigration levels that put the well-being of people already here first.

 

Why the Gap Between Canadians and Ottawa Keeps Growing

 

For more than 50 years, Canada’s immigration framework has been built on the same core design: the 1967 Points System and the Immigration Act that followed.

Those rules were pioneering in their day. But decades of rapid increases, layered exceptions, and limited public input have created a system that too often puts economic growth targets ahead of housing supply, health-care capacity, and community well-being.

 

Recent public-opinion research is unambiguous:

- A strong and growing majority of Canadians want lower immigration levels

- Support for reduction is consistent across age groups, regions, and income levels

- Only 5% of Canadians believe levels should increase further

 

Yet annual numbers continue to rise.

 

What a Responsible, Modern Framework Would Look Like

 

A growing number of policy experts – from university researchers to former senior officials – agree that Canada needs a new approach built on four evidence-based principles:

 

1. Capacity first – Immigration targets must reflect actual housing starts, health-care spaces, and infrastructure investment

2. Clear, transparent rules – Canadians deserve to understand how decisions are made

3. Regular public input – Annual levels should reflect what Canadians say they are prepared to welcome

4. Measurable outcomes – Success should be judged by wages, wait times, and affordability, not just total numbers

 

Takeaways

 

Canada remains one of the most welcoming countries on earth.

But welcoming must be sustainable.

 

When seven out of ten citizens say the current pace is too high, that is not a fringe view — it is the considered judgment of the Canadian public.

 

Decision-makers in Ottawa need to hear it directly.

Our research is grassroots directed, expert developed, and presented to decision-makers.

 

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