A recently released Gallup study has ranked Canada as the fourth in a list of nations worldwide, as most accepting of immigrants.
Gallup created the Migrant Acceptance Index for this study in which Canada’s score was 8.14 out of a total score of 9. With 140 countries being ranked in the survey, the top positions were taken up by Iceland, New Zealand and Rwanda, in that particular order.
The index measured how accepting a country’s residents are concerning newcomers and immigrants entering their home countries. Gallup Index also framed three particular questions to ask of the survey respondents to measure the increasing degrees of proximity. The respondents had to classify whether the following activities were good or bad – immigrants coming into their home country, staying on as neighbours and marrying into their families.
Gallup conducted this survey from August to November 2017 based on a sample population of 2000 Canadians, 15 or older. The year 2017 was also significant as it witnessed an increasing flow of asylum seekers entering Canada from the United States. Anti-immigration policies introduced by the sitting United States president Donald Trump has been cited as the primary reason. The United States ranked in the ninth place in the Gallup Index.
Politics Influences Immigration Acceptance
The findings of the Gallup survey corroborate those of an Environics Institute recent research which stated that immigration is viewed positively by a majority of the Canadians.
Another striking finding stated that politics influences the acceptance rate of immigrants by the majority of the population. Though the United States and Canada are majorly accepting of immigrants, the leading party in power still plays an important role.
Though historically, both countries have been very receiving of immigrants, their current political climates have vastly differing views on immigration. Political environments are also a significant determinant influencing their respective population’s views.
In the United States, immigration has been viewed as a threat to the country and its people’s growth. Consequently, survey respondents favouring Trump scored much lower on the index as compared to the respondents who did not endorse Trump.
Canada had a similar trend as per which supporters of the Justin Trudeau government scored higher on the Index as compared to disapprovers who scored much lower.
Influencing Aspects – Faith, age, education
Respondents placing a higher emphasis on religion as a part of their life scored lower on the Gallup Index, and other survey respondents scored much higher for whom religion was not a part of their daily lives.
This was visible from the numbers who said they supported the Trump administration and identified themselves as religious got 6.97 versus the not religious, not Trump supportive group of respondents who got a substantially higher score of 8.61.
In a startling observation, younger, more educated and urban dwelling residents were more likely to be found accepting of immigrants in both the countries. Similarly, working residents and those satisfied with their living standards and income were more welcoming of the new immigrants and newcomers.
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