Canadian immigrants will vote just like the rest of the population, as the country heads to the polls in less than a week.
“There’s no one vote; one immigrant vote, we are diverse communities. There are things that matter to us, of course, as do all Canadians,” said Olga Stachova, the CEO of MOSAIC, an immigrant association based in Vancouver.
The “immigrant vote” refers to the idea that immigrants are collectively voting for similar issues in elections, but experts say there’s no such thing.
Experts who spoke with OMNI News say Canadian immigrants will vote just like Canadian-born voters.
“Newcomers probably have many of the same issues as people who were born in Canada. They’re worried about the price of housing, they’re worried about getting a family doctor, or wait times for medical procedures,” said Irene Bloemraad, a professor at the University of British Columbia.
But the votes of Canadian immigrants can hold more power in highly concentrated immigrant ridings.
“In the ridings where we have high numbers of immigrant voters, in the Greater Vancouver Area, in the Greater Toronto Area, that’s where immigrants matter,” Bloemraad said.
Immigration was expected to take over the campaign trail before U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs overshadowed other topics. But Canadian immigrants are just as likely to be concerned about the country’s immigration policies as Canadian-born voters.
“They might have concerns that overlap with people born in Canada. To the extent that there’s an argument that immigration is linked to housing. They might be just the same as everybody else worried about that,” Bloemraad said.
Other Canadian immigrants will look to see how federal party leaders address immigration as anti-immigration sentiments rise.
“I think they will also care about seeing a plan that the parties have in reinstating and rebuilding the trust in the immigration system. Not only nationally, but also internationally,” Stachova said.
“We can argue about how many immigrants we bring into the country, but ultimately, Canada is a country that heavily depends on immigrants.”
Immigrant votes ‘matter much more‘ in Canada than in the U.S.
More immigrants are becoming citizens in Canada compared to American immigrants, and this means the votes of Canadian immigrants might matter more compared to American immigrants, Bloemraad added.
“Almost all of the Canadian immigrants have become Canadian citizens. In the U.S., it’s only half,” Bloemraad said.
“So, immigrant voters matter much more in Canada than they do in the U.S.”
It also suggests federal party leaders often don’t target particular races on the campaign trail, where they might in the U.S., Bloemraad said.
“In the Canadian context, you do not get quite the same race-baiting or the same nasty targeting you find in the U.S., and that’s partially because immigrants are concentrated in places that matter like Metro Vancouver.”
