Canadians are split when it comes to determining whether ISIS, the Syrian government or someone else is responsible for the Syrian refugee crisis, according to a new poll by Mainstreet Research and Postmedia released Tuesday.

Roughly 32% of respondents say the Islamic State -- also known as ISIS -- is primarily responsible, compared to 31% who hold the current Syrian government, led by Bashar Al-Assad, to account. About 29% of the 2,506 surveyed last week said something else was the cause of the migrant turmoil.

"My suspicion (is the number of those) unsure or don't know is so high because people attribute part of the blame to both, or they realize it's not entirely the Islamic State or the Syrian government that are to blame -- that they're both part to blame for the refugee crisis," said Mainstreet Research president Quito Maggi.

In another question on the survey, 31% of those surveyed said the best way for Canada to contribute to the Syrian Refugee Crisis is to bring refugees into the country while 27% believe humanitarian aid is the way to go.

"The discussion in the media and the profile (this issue) has gotten has led to the fact that so many people are saying that Canada's best contribution would help by resettling refugees here in Canada," Maggi said. "There have been other international crises and how many refugees were accepted at that time? Just in that context, Canadians, with the Kurdi family as an example (of the two children that drowned while attempting to escape Syria) touched people's hearts and it drives it close to home. It speaks more to Canadians' generosity and that we want to play a bigger role."

At a press conference Monday, Prime Minister Stephen Harper said Canada intends to bring in more Syrian refugees and that the government has already brought in tens of thousands.

"Let me also assure Canadians that we will make sure we have the processes in place so that we make sure we help the most vulnerable first, this is not first-come-first-serve, and we make sure we know who everybody is, we help those who are most vulnerable," Harper said.

The Conservatives said ensuring Canadian security is properly protected is a priority when bringing people from a war zone controlled by terrorists.

The Mainstreet/Postmedia poll was conducted on Sept. 4-6 and has a margin of error of 1.96%, 19 times out of 20.

jenny.yuen@sunmedia.ca

-- With files by Maryam Shah