Immigration has been overshadowed in Canada’s federal election. Here’s why this group says that’s a mistake.

Immigration has been overshadowed in Canada’s federal election. Here’s why this group says that’s a mistake.

Toronto Star, Posted: April 16, 2025 | Nicholas Keung

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An open letter to political leaders asks them to commit to endorsing five principles for a vision that repudiates anti-immigration rhetoric.

With immigration dominating public debate in much of the past year, it’s almost anticlimactic for Katie Crocker to see the issues overshadowed by tariffs and Trump in the federal election.
 
“We’re right back into the same position where nobody wants to talk about immigration,” said the CEO of the Affiliation of Multicultural Societies and Service Agencies of BC.
 
“People might not be talking about it. It might not be front and centre, but it’s always here. We need the Conservative party. We need the NDP. We need Mark Carney. We need them to talk about this so we can at least have the conversation. Burying our head in the sand is not working.

On Tuesday, Crocker’s group was part of a national coalition that released an open letter to all political party leaders calling on them to commit to endorsing five key principles for a unifying vision for immigration that counters and repudiates anti-immigration rhetoric in the face of rising anti-immigrant sentiment.

“Understanding and trust in the current direction of immigration, and the systems that support it, is faltering across the country and trending in the wrong direction,” the letter cautioned. “If this continues, we are at risk economically, politically and culturally.”

Canadians’ support for immigration has been cracking in the last couple of years. A long-term tracking poll found, for the first time in a quarter-century, a clear majority of Canadians believe the country has accepted too many immigrants.

Permanent residents and temporary residents such as international students and foreign workers have been blamed for contributing to Canada’s affordable housing crisis and straining services, leading to a flurry of rapid policy changes that have destabilized the immigration system and made Canada less welcoming.

“We really do find ourselves in this position where we’re at the whim of public opinion,” Crocker said in an interview. “Everything was chaotic. Nothing seemed to be rooted in clearly defined public policy.

“We have a postsecondary education system that relies on international students. We have an agricultural system that relies on seasonal agricultural workers. We have a health-care system that relies on foreign labour. Yet these decisions were happening very randomly without clearly articulating to Canadians.”