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The poll showed a nearly even split between those who believe Canada is admitting too many immigrants — 39 per cent — and those who believe the government has landed on the right number — 38 per cent. Another 12 per cent feel Canada should be taking in more immigrants. Canada plans to take in 310,000 new permanent residents in 2018, increasing to 340,000 in 2020.

For months, the issue of irregular border crossers has triggered fiery debate in Ottawa, with the Conservatives accusing the government of doing too little to secure Canada’s borders and stop the influx of asylum seekers. The crux of the issue is the Canada-U.S. Safe Third Country Agreement, which requires asylum seekers to claim refugee status in the first country in which they arrive, and allows border agents to turn back asylum seekers trying to enter Canada from the U.S. — but only if they arrive at official ports of entry. The Conservatives believe the agreement should be extended across the entire border to deter people from crossing illegally, while the NDP has called for the agreement to be scrapped, arguing the U.S. is no longer a safe country in which to make an asylum claim.

The new poll also tried to assess respondents’ views on diversity, asking whether Canadians should or should not “celebrate the multicultural diversity of the people who live here.” Overall, 62 per cent of respondents said Canada should be celebrated as a “cultural mosaic,” while 38 per cent said diversity should not be celebrated “because it just creates differences between citizens when we should be a melting pot into one Canadian culture.”

The poll surveyed 5,769 adults who were members of an online panel between Sept. 13 and 19, and would have been accurate to +/- 2.1 per cent, 19 times out of 20, had all Canadian adults been polled.