Canadian Immigrants Settle in Canada Easily, Poll Reveals

A survey reveals that natives Canadians treat foreign immigrants as equals.

Happy Citizens – The majority of Canadians admit that immigrants are just as probable to be good citizens as the natives of the country. This came as a result of an Environics survey, the first survey to study views of Canadians on citizenship. To top it all, people don't even seem to have any hassles with dual citizenship as well as with Canadians residing overseas.

First of its Kind – Environics, the first of its kind telephone survey, is also the first to directly question Canadians on citizenship. The results illustrate that Canadians have an open mind, wide-range outlook on the concept and of immigration in general. A team consisting of 5 countrywide organizations – The Institute for Canadian Citizenship, CBC, Institute, Maytree, the RBC Foundation and the Environics – carried out a public opinion poll that quizzed over 2,000 Canadians regarding the characteristics of a good citizen.

Traits of a Good Citizen – Sara Jhangiryan, a Toronto based foreign national who was born in Armenia said,

The traits of a good citizen are far-reaching. To be a good citizen one should contribute to the society, abide by the laws of the nation, lend a hand to fellow citizens, look after the country, and it's a gratifying feeling if you do all such things in the best way possible.

Sara Jhangiryan further aptly added,

It's not just about what the country presents you, but what you do as well.

Jhangiryan became a Canadian citizen last year.

Top Responses – The top five responses what people think are the reasons that let immigrants be good Canadian Citizens include:

1. Abiding the laws,

2. Enthusiastically taking part in the community,

3. Helping other people,

4. Being polite to others and

5. Living with values that define the country respectively.

However, as they were asked what they actually did to be such citizens, people mentioned volunteer work, being charitable to fellow citizens, lawfully paying taxes, abiding by other laws and religiously voting.

Equals – The survey reveals that natives treat immigrants as equals. Almost 90% citizens believe that immigrants are as good as people who are born in Canada. As citizens they would always be welcomed. There's no such proof that immigrants would feel threatened in any way. Keith Neuman, Executive director of one of the organizations that conducted the survey said, “To be honest, people can come to Canada from other countries and live here, yet they're not pretty much the same”.
About 2,376 adults were consulted for the survey from 18th November to 17th December 2011. Only households with fixed lines were involved in the survey.