Canadians Tops in Tolerance, According to Survey

Canada has plenty to be proud of this week thanks to a study showing the successes of multiculturalism in the country. In a survey of 23 countries in the Western world, Canadians showed themselves to be among the most tolerant across the board in the categories measured.

The study, titled “Love thy Neighbour” surveyed over 32000 individuals in 23 countries about their views towards other groups in their society. Respondents were asked “would you want this person as your neighbour?” for a series of different groups, such as people from another race, Muslims, and immigrants in general. For Canadians, the answer was overwhelmingly yes, regardless of the group in question.

Canadians ranked more welcoming than any other surveyed country to Muslims, beating the average by a full 8%. Muslim groups in Canada echoed the findings of the survey. Salma Siddiqui of the Muslim Canadian Congress said that “we are lucky to be living in a country that recognizes all human rights”. In addition, fewer than 5% of Canadians responded negatively towards having an immigrant or a person of a different race as a neighbour. While of course any number over zero is not ideal, the survey shows negative sentiments to be limited to a small minority of Canadians.

The survey looked at attitudes at countries in North America, Europe, Australia New Zealand. It was authored by economists from universities in Australia and the United Kingdom. The study will appear in the upcoming International Review for Social Sciences.