The first Transatlantic Trends: Immigration survey was conducted in 2008, before the economic crisis began. The recently-published 2009 survey offers an opportunity to exam the shift in public opinion towards immigrants. Canada was also included in the survey last year.

Some of the key findings for Canada and the United States appear below.

Key Findings for Canada

1. Assessment of the Government’s management of immigration: Good or Fair (59%) / Poor or Very Poor (35%)
2. Public perception of what percentage of the population consists of immigrants: 37% (it is actually 20%)
3. Are there too many immigrants? Yes (24%)
4. Is immigration more of a problem than an opportunity? Yes (25%)
5. Do immigrants take away jobs from or bring down wages of native born workers? Take Jobs Away (32%) / Bring Down Wages (30%)
6. Do legal immigrants increase crime? Yes (29%)
7. Do illegal immigrants increase crime? Yes (51%)
8. Do you favor permanent over temporary migration? Yes (76%)

Overall, Canada’s score card was pretty good. Most Canadians think the Federal Government is doing a good or fair job of managing immigration.

Only 24% of Canadians thought that there were “too many immigrants” and only 25% of Canadians thought that immigration as more of a problem than an opportunity. Even with the current economic climate, a majority of Canadians did not blame immigrants for taking away jobs or bringing down the wages of native-born workers.

Although only 29% of Canadians believed that legal immigrants increased crime in the country, 51% did believe that illegal immigrants increased crime. However, the percentage was higher for all other countries included in the survey, with the exception of France.

In addition, Canadians overestimated the number of immigrants in the country. However, all countries included in the survey made this mistake.

75% of Canadians indicated that legal immigrants who come to the country should be given an opportunity to stay permanently. This would appear to run counter to the Federal Government’s move towards favoring temporary migration over permanent migration.

Key Findings for the United States

1. Assessment of the Government’s management of immigration: Good or Fair (34%) / Poor or Very Poor (63%)
2. Public perception of what percentage of the population consists of immigrants: 35% (it is actually 14%)
3. Are there too many immigrants? Yes (48%)
4. Is immigration more of a problem than an opportunity? Yes (54%)
5. Do immigrants take away jobs from or bring down wages of native born workers? Take Jobs Away (44%) / Bring Down Wages (44%)
6. Do legal immigrants increase crime? Yes (23%)
7. Do illegal immigrants increase crime? Yes (58%)
8. Do you favor permanent over temporary migration? Yes (70%)

The United States clearly did far worse than Canada, although arguably not as badly as some other countries. A majority of Americans believe that the Federal Government is doing a poor or very poor job of managing immigration.

Americans also overestimated the number of immigrants in the country. However, as stated above, every country made this same error.

Almost half of Americans believed that there were too many immigrants in the country and more than half considered immigration to be more of a problem than an opportunity. Almost half of Americans also believed that immigrants took away jobs and reduced wages for native-born workers.

While only 23% of Americans believed that legal immigrants increased crime in the country, 58% thought that illegal immigrants did increase crime. However, this percentage was higher for all other countries included in the survey, with the exception of France and Canada.

Surprisingly, 70% of Americans favored giving legal immigrants who come to the country an opportunity to stay permanently. Of course, the current immigration system in the United States makes it very difficult for many legal workers and international students to seek permanent residence, even when there are no U.S. workers available.

The 2009 Transatlantic Trends: Immigration survey is available here.