Recent immigrants more likely to have confidence in Parliament, Canadian media: Statistics Canada

Visitors to Parliament Hill take in the Centennial Flame in front of Centre Block’s Peace Tower, in Ottawa, on Friday, June 17, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang

Statistics Canada has released its new report about the Canadians level of confidence in Canada’s institutions, finding that recent immigrants are more likely to express confidence in the media and parliament.

According to the report, about two-third (67) per cent of Canadians surveyed reported having a high level of confidence in the police, while the level of confidence is lower for justice system and courts (51 per cent), the federal Parliament (36 per cent) and the Canadian media (33 per cent).

However, recent immigrants are most likely to report high level of confidence in the Canadian media and Parliament. For instance, 25 per cent of Canadian-born South Asians had confidence in the Canadian media compared with 57 per cent of recent immigrants.

Breaking down the data, 24 per cent of Japanese-Canadians reported to be confident in the Federal Parliament while the proportion is lower (21 per cent) in media. The proportion is higher among other racialized groups ranging from 35 per cent to 45 per cent.

The level of confidence in the justice system and courts are also much higher among racialized group than non-racialized, non-indigenous people. Confidence in the courts and justice system was at 49 per cent among white Canadians, while among many racialized groups, confidence in this institution ranges from 58 to 69 per cent.

However, many racialized groups said they had less confidence in the police. Data from the survey shows that Southeast Asian (63 per cent), Black (52 per cent) and Japanese Canadians (47 per cent) are less likely to report confidence in police.

On the other hand, 69 per cent of non-racialized and non-Indigenous Canadians said they had confidence in the police.

On top of that, Southeast Asian and Black Canadians who were born in Canada had even less confidence in the police (45 per cent and 32 per cent, respectively).

Reporting for this story was paid for through The Afghan Journalists in Residence Project funded by Meta.