CBC: Immigration support by Canadians at all-time high. Multiculturalism embraced.

[pampango]

Support for immigration in Canada is at an all-time high, suggests a new study that tracked attitudes about newcomers to the country over the last 40 years. Not only has support for immigration stayed high, but it's surged in the past six years, at a time when such support has dropped in the U.S. and Europe.

The study by the Institute for Research on Public Policy found that Canadians think favourably of immigration despite recessions, terrorism and a changing political landscape over the years. In 2004, EKOS found 63 per cent of Canadians supported current or higher levels of immigration and by 2010, after a sharp recession, that number jumped to 67 per cent. The report also noted that Canadians in poorer parts of the country are the most likely to support immigration.

The attitude is unique in western countries and stems from two strong Canadian beliefs.

"On the economic side people believe that immigration is a boon to the economy... On the cultural side, we have this policy called multiculturalism that sort of became part of the Canadian identity and one of the points of pride distinguishing Canada from the U.S.," study author Jeffrey Reitz told the CBC's Louise Elliott.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/story/2011/10/20/pol-immigration-study.html

Nice to hear that our neighbors still view immigration so positively and that multiculturalism is flourishing in a progressive environment.

[Amonester]

1. Also, there is a big 'drop' of sufficient qualified workers in sight.

With all baby-boomers retirements coming up in this decade, there will be jobs that won't find enough applicants.

[tuvor]

2. Canadians don't procreate enough, making immigration necessary. n/t

[pampango]

3. I suppose that is part of the "it's better for the economy" reasoning above.

It was good also to see that a progressive place like Canada also values immigration on diversity/multiculturalism grounds.

Americans don't "procreate enough" either (though more than Canadians :) ), but the national attitude towards immigration is much different. We value past waves of immigration as a part of who we are, but current immigration has always (from the Irish and Germans, to the Italians and Polish, to the Chinese and Japanese, and now to Hispanics) been resisted by those who preceded them.

Canadians seem to be some of the few people who value current immigrants. Heck, 14% (42 of 307) of members of Parliament are immigrants. I'm not sure the US has any congress people who are foreign born.

"The total fertility rate in the United States estimated for 2009 is 2.01 children per woman, which is below the replacement fertility rate of approximately 2.1."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_the_United_States

(Canada's) "Total fertility rate: 1.58 children born/woman (2009 est.)"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_Canada