The concerning rise of anti-immigration sentiment in Canada

Experts weigh in on what this could mean for multiculturalism in Canada

NewsSarah Housley — Published November 4, 2025 6 minutes

Concordia University’s School of Community and Public Affairs professor Chedly Belkhodja says that an anti-immigrant sentiment has been steadily growing in the country since the pandemic. According to him, this rise is best explained by globalization.

“We had a certain stability in the way the system was working in many societies,” Belkhodja said. “With globalization, a lot of things happened.”

One of the most noteworthy consequences of globalization, Belkhodja said, is higher rates of migration and mobility, especially to a country with lower birth rates and a shrinking workforce like Canada. The phenomenon also changed the way global social and economic systems work, such as companies resorting to offshoring.

“A lot of people felt they were losing from globalization,” Belkhodja said. “When you feel resentment, you tend to point the finger to certain people.”

A lot of this blame, he said, is being placed on immigrants, and people's frustrations have given populist politicians like Donald Trump the momentum they need to rise in popularity. 

Belkhodja added that the rise of the Trump populist government in the U.S. has affected how Canada responds to border security and immigration.

Due to Trump's threats to annex Canada, Belkhodja said that there have been demands for more border security in addition to the constant threat of tariffs.

“[The Liberal party] is presenting Canada as a country that is able to protect its border,” Belkhodja said. “The government of Mark Carney is flexing its muscle, I don’t know if they have a lot, but it’s flexing its muscle to show that Canada has a stronger position on limiting immigration, on controlling the border.”

One of these so-called flexes is Bill C-12. The bill pertains to what the federal government calls “the security of the Canadian border and the integrity of the Canadian immigration system.” 

Bill C-12 is a response to backlash over Bill C-2, a bill that made it easier for refugees and migrants to be detained and deported without a fair process. Over 300 organizations, including the Canadian Civil Liberties Association, the Migrant Rights Network, and the Ligue des droits et libertés, called for the immediate withdrawal of Bill C-2 after it was proposed in June.

According to Greenpeace, Bill C-2 allowed the federal government to “revoke the immigration permits of entire groups of people en masse based on [factors] like country of origin, without any ability for individuals to appeal.”

Still, some critics remain unimpressed with the reformed Bill C-12. 

In an Amnesty International statement, Migrant Rights Network spokesperson Karen Cocq was quoted as saying that Bill C-12 will still “block refugee hearings, impose retroactive one-year bars, and grant ministers mass immigration status cancellation powers.”

In Montreal, the migrant justice network Solidarity Across Borders organized a “No One is Illegal” march on Oct. 19, which called for the withdrawal of Bill C-12. 

David Liu, an immigrant from China who was in attendance, said he has personally noticed the rise in anti-immigration sentiment in the country. 

“[In the past few years], random people just came up on the street screaming and shouting racial slurs against me,” Liu said. “This happened one or two times.”  

Liu, who has lived in Canada for a decade now, thinks it's important for people to take action. 

“I feel like we are in a state of emergency for people to speak up and resist this right-wing [anti-immigration] movement,” Liu said.

Karin More, a Little Italy resident who also attended the protest, said she’s also noticed the shift.

“People I didn’t know were anti-immigrant, have come out as anti-immigrant in the last few years,” More said. “​​The rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer. The poor blame people who are even worse off than them.”

In recent years, new political parties such as the People’s Party of Canada have also played a role in perpetuating anti-immigrant narratives, according to Belkhodja. 

Founded in 2018 by former Conservative Party member Maxime Bernier, this new party has campaigned for Canada to severely limit immigration. Bernier even said he would withdraw Canada from the UN's Global Compact for Migration if elected.

Meanwhile, a similar sentiment is being echoed in Quebec politics, Belkhodja explained. 

“The CAQ (Coalition Avenir Québec) has used immigration as a wedge issue in creating polarization, which is a strategy that we see in many countries,” Belkhodja said. 

In recent years, François Legault’s government has blamed the housing crisis on temporary immigrants, said that a hike in immigration would be “suicidal” for Quebec, and slashed the number of family reunification applications the government processes.

Additionally, in 2022, Legault publicly opposed multiculturalism, saying that it is important not to “put all cultures on the same level.” Instead, he said he prefers to focus on “interculturalism” and integrating newcomers into “the Quebec culture.”

According to Belkhodja, Legault’s strong position on identity can lead people to believe there’s a problem with immigration in Quebec. 

“[This position] also gave the impression that there was a problem in Quebec, and it was mostly an immigration problem and immigration from countries where Islam is the religion,” Belkhodja said. 

The Association for Canadian Studies poll found that 60 per cent of Quebecers agree that immigrants should give up their customs and traditions in favour of the majority, the highest rate out of all provinces.

Belkhodja added that it is important to view this statistic in the context of the Canadian Multiculturalism Act. The act emphasizes that the fundamental characteristic of Canadian identity is cultural diversity, and that Canadians should have the opportunity to both preserve and share their cultural heritage. 

“Multiculturalism is seen as a model that defines the Canadian identity,” Belkhodja said. 

He said that, recently, many Canadians are reacting negatively to the idea of open immigration laws due to a false idea that, in the context of access to housing, healthcare and education, for example, too many immigrants are causing the system to be at capacity. 

However, according to the Refugee Centre, immigrants are being disproportionately blamed for the housing crisis despite making up less than a quarter of Canada's population. In reality, a lack of affordable units, stagnant wages and an increase in short-term rentals are important contributing factors to the housing crisis. 

According to Belkhodja, the federal government’s approach differs from Quebec’s, where the CAQ is limiting the number of immigrants, but also voicing concerns that the immigrants are “not buying into Quebec society.”

“We have a government who wants to legislate in certain fields such as secularism, [...] that creates these tensions,” Belkhodja said. 

In 2019, the CAQ government passed Bill 21, a law on secularism that bans people working as teachers, lawyers, police officers and more from wearing religious symbols. These include but are not limited to crosses, hijabs, turbans and yarmulkes. Since its adoption, the bill has received steady backlash from religious advocacy groups, teachers and other politicians. 

Belkhodja also said the media can intensify the negative narrative surrounding immigration. According to him, certain popular media outlets put wood to the fire, focusing on exaggerated stories that perpetuate a narrative of incompatibility between immigrants and those born in Canada. In turn, he added, this creates debate and polarization. 

“​​When you go in the neighbourhoods, when you go on the ground [...] you realize people live together,” Belkhodja said. “[Immigrants to Quebec] want to have a decent life for themselves and their kids [...] we hear positive stories, we need to hear them more.”

This article originally appeared in Volume 46, Issue 5, published November 4, 2025.