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Canadians 'most open' to immigrants |
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By Ethan Caleb » Canadians are among the world leaders when it
comes to being welcoming to immigrants, a new Gallup poll has revealed.
While a majority of residents in countries including the United States and Britain say they would like the levels of immigration reduced, eight in 10 Canadians say they would like immigrant numbers to stay the same or even increased.
Some 58% backed immigration levels being maintained at current levels, while 22% said they would like to see an increase.
Another recently released set of multination polling also confirms that most Canadians believe immigration is generally good for the economy. Some 62% of Canadians felt newcomers contributed to the country's economy - compared with 45% of Americans, 35% of French, 28% of Germans and 21% of British. The only country to score better than Canada on this was Australia, where seven in 10 people said immigration was good for the economy.
Nearly seven in 10 Canadians also believe that immigrants improve society by bringing in new ideas and cultures - a score bettered only by Switzerland, where 76% agreed with the assertion. At the other end of the scale, again, was Britain, where just three in 10 people were welcoming of newcomers' ideas.
On the issue of crime, just one in four Canadians say that crime rates go up because of immigrants - a belief Americans share in the same proportion. Not so with people in Norway, Austria, Germany, Sweden, Portugal and Switzerland, where a majority say immigrants directly contribute to increasing crime levels.
There seemed to be broad agreement among all countries surveyed when it came to government assistance for immigrants - significant numbers believed assistance offered was excessive. This ranged from 30% in Portugal to nearly 70% in Germany and the UK.
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Newsfile 