Backlash against immigrants challenges Canada's welcoming image

A young new Canadian holds a flag as she takes part in a citizenship ceremony on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Wednesday, April 17, 2019, to mark the 37th anniversary of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick

TORONTO — A growing perception in Canada that immigration is to blame for some of the country's economic woes is fueling a xenophobic backlash evidenced by a surge in reported hate crimes against visible minorities, advocates and community members say.

Long a nation that took pride in welcoming newcomers, Canada is facing a reckoning over a sharp rise in the number of "temporary residents" such as international students and workers in recent years. Opinion polls show a growing slice of the public believes Canada has too many immigrants, and many blame them for a worsening housing crisis and surge in the cost of living.

That appears to have contributed to a slump in popularity of Justin Trudeau’s minority Liberal government. A national election is due no later than October 2025 but may come sooner after the New Democratic Party this week withdrew its automatic support for the government.

Hate crimes reported by police more than doubled from 2019 to 2023, according to the latest figures from Statistics Canada, with 44.5 per cent of incidents in 2023 motivated by race or ethnicity. Hate crimes can include anything from homicide and assault to mischief and public incitement of hatred.

The apparent growth in anti-immigrant sentiment runs counter to a long-standing consensus in Canada that the country welcomes newcomers on humanitarian and economic grounds.

But concern over a shortage of housing and affordability appears to have weakened that consensus and given fresh life to years-old anti-immigrant tropes, said Peter Smith, a researcher with the Canadian Anti-Hate Network, an advocacy organization.

"People are looking for something to change, and people are also looking for someone to blame," he said. "The target, unfortunately - and, you know, a very easy one - is immigrants."

Canada added more than 470,000 new permanent residents in 2023, or roughly one per cent of its population. But the biggest jump in immigration numbers comes from temporary residents, especially students and workers, whose ranks have doubled in just two years from 1.4 million in the second quarter of 2022 to 2.8 million in the second quarter of 2024, according to Statistics Canada.

A Leger poll last month found 65 per cent of Canadians surveyed believe the Canadian government's current immigration plan will admit too many people. Most said they believe current immigration rates are contributing to the housing crisis and stresses on healthcare services and called Canada’s immigration policy "too generous."

Balpreet Singh, legal counsel for the World Sikh Organization of Canada, believes the perception that newcomers are behind the country's economic ills has prompted a xenophobic response. He said Sikhs were often targeted by the hate.

"When you're using the image of a Sikh to represent all the so-called problems of immigration, it's not a surprise that Sikh men – who are very visible because of their turbans, their beards – are the ones that are being attacked," he said.

In July, for example, a Sikh man was heading home from his temple in the Scarborough area of Toronto when he said he had his turban snatched off his head by someone who jumped into a car and sped off. Police said they investigated but no arrests had been made as of Aug. 15.

The victim, Rupinder Singh, was deeply shaken.

“I’m planning to go back home because of this incident. I don’t feel safe,” said Singh, who came to Canada from India as a student in 2022 and now holds a work permit.

Racist and xenophobic posts targeting immigrants and visible minorities in Canada have proliferated online in recent years, said Queen's University political scientist Christian Leuprecht. He said the internet speeds the spread of these ideas and makes people espousing them feel part of a community.

In an interview, Immigration Minister Marc Miller said Canada is not immune to anti-immigrant sentiment but its longstanding consensus around immigration, while challenged, remains part of the national identity. He said politicians need to be careful with their language.

“I'm not going to say there aren't any racists in Canada. There are," he said. “I don't think it's risen to the level we've seen in other countries. I think we have to be vigilant.”

'Out-of-control' system

Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre, who polls say would win a majority if an election were held now, has called Canada's immigration system "out of control," "shattered," "chaos" and "ruined."

The Liberals have said issues of housing and affordability are complex but that immigration is at least partly responsible for the housing shortage.

With the Liberals well behind in public opinion polls, Trudeau's government has pledged to reduce the number of temporary residents to five per cent of the overall population over three years from 6.8 per cent in April.

To that end, Canada is tightening rules around temporary foreign workers and international students. Miller has promised measures to further reduce the ranks of temporary residents. Trudeau has said he is considering reducing the number of new permanent residents as well.

Stephanie Carvin, a Carleton University professor who researches national security and extremism, said the issue was likely to become more fraught as Canada moves into an election period.

"I do worry this is going to get worse before it gets better," Carvin said.

University of Ottawa law professor Jamie Chai Yun Liew said political leaders bear some responsibility for public sentiment around immigration.

"You would hope they would be more responsible and careful with their language," she said.

As an example, she cited comments in May from Ontario Premier Doug Ford, who suggested without evidence that immigrants were behind a shooting at a Jewish school. Ford later said his comments were "meant to stress that there is more that unites us than divides us."

(Reporting by Anna Mehler Paperny in Toronto; Editing by Frank McGurty and Deepa Babington)