A new opinion poll conducted by Leger indicates that a large majority of Canadians agree that the rise in immigration rates fuels the housing crisis and puts pressure on the healthcare system.

The survey, conducted from Friday to Sunday, showed that about three-quarters of participants agreed that the increase in the number of immigrants intensifies pressure on the housing market and the healthcare system.

About two-thirds of participants, or 63 percent, said that the influx of newcomers also increases pressure on the country’s education systems.

However, the poll showed that Canadians also see some benefits to increased immigration.

About three-quarters of participants agreed that increasing immigration contributes to the country’s cultural diversity, and 63 percent said the arrival of young immigrants contributes to the workforce and the tax base, which supports older generations.

Leger surveyed the opinions of 1,529 people online. Although the results were statistically weighted, no margin of error can be assigned to them because online polls are not considered truly random samples.

The poll results confirm the mixed feelings among Canadians about the impact of immigration on the country.

At the same time, this points to a shift in public sentiment about immigration, as the country faces affordability challenges and problems in providing public services.

In 2022, Canada’s population increased by more than one million people, a figure that included 607,782 temporary residents and 437,180 immigrants.

Leger sees that compared to March 2022, the percentage of Canadians who say they want the country to welcome more immigrants than in the past has dropped from 17 percent to nine percent.

On the other hand, more people say Canada should welcome fewer immigrants, with this number rising from 39 percent to 48 percent.

Meanwhile, Christian Bourque, Leger’s executive vice president, said more Canadians seem to associate immigration with issues like housing affordability.

The federal government has faced scrutiny for rapidly increasing its annual immigration targets, while the number of temporary residents in the country is also rising.

The number of permanent residents in Canada is scheduled to rise in 2024 and 2025 as planned, to 485,000 and 500,000 respectively.

Also, just over half the participants in the Leger poll—53 percent—said these numbers are far too high, while 28 percent said Canada is ready to accept the right number of immigrants. Four percent said the country does not welcome enough immigrants.

The federal Liberals have argued that increasing the country's population is important to address labor shortages and an aging population. They have also argued that newcomers can help build the homes that Canadians desperately need.

But after much controversy over whether Canada can handle these high immigration flows, Immigration Minister Marc Miller proposed new targets in Parliament earlier this month calling for the number of new permanent residents to hold steady at 500,000 in 2026.

At the same time, Leger’s latest federal voting intentions poll showed the Conservatives maintaining a 14-point lead over the Liberals, with 40 percent of participants saying they would most likely vote Conservative if an election were held at the time of polling. Twenty-six percent said they would vote Liberal, and 20 percent would vote for the New Democratic Party.

Only 29 percent of participants said they were very or somewhat satisfied with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government, a number that has declined in recent months.

A quarter of respondents said Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre would make the best prime minister, down four percentage points from October. Trudeau is trailing Poilievre by 19 percent, while 17 percent of respondents said New Democratic Party leader Jagmeet Singh would make the best prime minister.

Bourque also said that the drop in support for leaders, compared to their parties, indicates that the issue of leadership may become a more central point in federal politics.

"We are seeing that... all the leaders' (parties') performances are weak." This raises the question: Will this all be about pushing leadership toward change?