Immigration and Multiculturalism: Australia, Canada and Poland

Australia, Canada and Poland all use the word "multiculturalism" — but local sources reveal three countries having almost completely different conversations

June 2026 · Researched via local sources using LikeLoc · 25 Australian sources · 29 Polish sources · 24 Canadian sources

Live searches: Australia · Poland · Canada

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"Multiculturalism" is one of those words that appears to mean the same thing everywhere it is used. Every country using it is presumably in favour of it — or at least in favour of saying so.

So I searched the same question — "how people view immigration and multiculturalism in their country" — through local Australian sources in English, local Polish sources in Polish, and local Canadian sources in English. Australia and Canada both came back positive. Poland came back sceptical and concerned.

But the interesting thing is not the sentiment scores. It is what each country is actually talking about when it uses the word.

Australia treats multiculturalism as an achieved national identity. Canada treats it as a founding policy under pressure. Poland treats it as a new reality it did not ask for and is still negotiating.

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The achieved identity — celebrating what already is

Australia's local sources on immigration and multiculturalism speak with a confidence that is almost unusual in 2026. The McKell Institute calls Australia "the world's most successful multicultural society." As of 2026, approximately 31.5% of Australians were born overseas — the highest proportion since the late 19th century, and a number that is cited with pride rather than alarm in local sources.

The Scanlon Foundation's long-running Social Cohesion surveys show that between 83% and 86% of Australians believe multiculturalism has been beneficial for the country. This has been broadly consistent for years, though local sources acknowledge the figure can dip during periods of economic stress when perceptions of job competition rise.

83–86% of Australians consistently say multiculturalism has been good for the country — a figure that has held even during periods of economic pressure.

The dominant voices in Australian local sources are institutions and think-tanks — the Multicultural Framework Review (a government policy process), the McKell Institute, the ABC, university researchers. The conversation is about managing and sustaining a multicultural success story, not about whether multiculturalism itself is desirable. Questions about cultural integration and housing shortages appear in Australian sources, but they are framed as challenges to manage within a positive framework, not as arguments against the project.

Young Australians (under 25) are notably more positive, with 86% believing current immigration levels are too low or just right. Education correlates with support — university-educated Australians are more likely to favour immigration. The tension that exists is at the edges: some concerns about crime, housing, and cultural tensions appear in local sources, but they are not the dominant register. The overall Australian conversation is one of settled confidence in a model that has broadly worked.

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From homogeneity to immigration reality — an unfinished negotiation

Poland is a country that did not expect to find itself having this conversation. After the ethnic transformations of World War II, Poland became one of the most ethnically homogeneous societies in Europe — a social fact that shaped Polish identity for three generations. Contemporary immigration, driven by arrivals from Ukraine, Belarus, and other former Soviet states, is now rapidly changing that reality. Local Polish sources reflect a society still processing the shift.

Polish academic sources — heavily represented in the search results — frame the question carefully. Poland has historically been a multinational, tolerant country (before the war); post-war homogeneity was not a natural condition but a consequence of historical trauma. The question now is whether Poland can reconnect with a more pluralist tradition as it becomes a receiving country rather than a sending one.

The polling data from Polish sources tells a genuinely ambivalent story. A 41% of Poles expressed concern in 2024 about the increasing number of foreigners in the country. More strikingly, 55% believe immigrants have a negative impact on the labour market — a figure that reflects both real labour-market anxiety and persistent misinformation. At the same time, 51% of Poles believe the state should actively support immigrant integration — a figure that suggests pragmatic acknowledgement that immigration is happening and needs to be managed constructively.

55% of Poles believe immigrants harm the labour market — yet 51% also believe the state should actively support integration. Poland is simultaneously resistant and pragmatic.

Polish sources note that personal contact changes attitudes significantly: Poles who have direct relationships with immigrants hold markedly more nuanced views. University researchers and policy analysts are the dominant voices, alongside Sejm publications and government working groups. The public debate is characterised by the language of fear and uncertainty — but this coexists with a growing recognition that demographic pressures (an ageing workforce, population decline) mean immigration is an economic necessity, not a choice.

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The founding policy under pressure — pride and growing unease

Canada did not just adopt multiculturalism as a policy in 1971 — it constitutionalised it, institutionalised it, and made it a core part of national identity. This history shows up everywhere in Canadian local sources: multiculturalism is not just a policy, it is how Canada defines itself in contrast to the American melting-pot and the European assimilation model. The Canadian Museum of Immigration at Pier 21, the Environics Institute, the Broadbent Institute, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) — all frame multiculturalism as a distinctive national achievement.

And yet: Canadian sources are now describing something that looks like a confidence crisis. The percentage of Canadians who view multiculturalism positively has risen over the long term — from 37% in 1997 to 54% in 2015, according to Environics data. But a striking countervailing figure now appears prominently in Canadian local sources: 67% of Canadians believe immigration levels are currently too high.

54% of Canadians view multiculturalism positively as a national identity — and 67% believe immigration levels are too high. Canada has separated the policy from the volumes.

This is the distinctive Canadian tension: support for multiculturalism as an identity, combined with growing concern about the scale of immigration. Local sources document rising concerns about housing pressure, job competition, the strain on public services, and the integration of new arrivals into Canadian values. Quebec features prominently as a distinct case: French-speaking Quebec has long worried that multiculturalism, as originally designed, does not adequately protect linguistic and cultural distinctiveness. Nearly half of Canadians now believe immigration has a negative impact on society — a significant increase from previous surveys.

What Canadian sources do not do is call for the abandonment of multiculturalism. The framework retains strong legitimacy. What is being renegotiated is the level — how many people, how fast, with what integration supports. Younger Canadians and university-educated Canadians remain the most supportive. The grassroots conversation described in Canadian sources blends pride in diversity with anxiety about whether the system is managing the pace of change well.

→ Explore the live Canada search on LikeLoc

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Three stances on the same question

The three searches returned two positive signals and one sceptical one — but that framing is too simple. What the local sources actually reveal is three countries at three different stages of the same historical conversation.

Australia is at the stage of settled confidence. The multicultural project has been running since the end of the White Australia Policy in the 1970s — long enough for 31.5% of the population to be foreign-born and for 83–86% to consider this a good thing. The debate in Australia is about refinement, not reconsideration.

Canada is at the stage of policy pride meeting practical concern. The founding framework retains its legitimacy; the growing worry is about numbers and speed. The gap between "multiculturalism is good" and "we currently have too many immigrants" has opened up, and Canadian sources are trying to hold both positions simultaneously.

Poland is at the earliest stage: confronting immigration as a new social fact in a historically homogeneous society, with competing impulses — economic pragmatism pointing one way, cultural anxiety pointing another, and a historical memory of pluralism that some are trying to recover.

Australia is debating the management of multiculturalism. Canada is debating the pace. Poland is still debating whether to embrace it at all.

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Key data at a glance

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Selected sources

Australia — 25 local sources searched

• Why Australia is the world's most successful multicultural society - The McKell Institute — "Why Australia Is the World's Most Successful Multicultural Society" (McKell Institute analysis of Australia's multicultural achievement and the factors behind it)
• Australians' Views on Cultural Diversity, Nation and Migration, 2015 ... — "Australians' Views on Cultural Diversity, Nation and Migration" (Scanlon Foundation Social Cohesion survey data on Australian attitudes to immigration and diversity)
• Social Cohesion Insights 05: Support for immigration — "Social Cohesion Insights: Support for Immigration" (Scanlon Foundation cohort analysis of support for immigration across demographic groups)
• Remaking the nation: Immigration, integration and multicultural nationalism - ABC Religion & Ethics — "Remaking the Nation: Immigration, Integration and Multicultural Nationalism" (ABC analysis of the relationship between immigration and Australian national identity)
• About the Multicultural Framework Review — "About the Multicultural Framework Review" (Australian government policy review ensuring multicultural policies remain relevant to a diverse society)
• US voters are more polarised on immigration than Australian and ... — "US Voters Are More Polarised on Immigration Than Australian and Other Voters" (comparative analysis of immigration attitudes in Australia versus the US)

Poland — 29 local sources searched

• [PDF] Polityczne i społeczne aspekty wielokulturowości — "Political and Social Aspects of Multiculturalism" (Polish academic study on multiculturalism as a social and political phenomenon)
• [PDF] Polska jako kraj imigracji – kto i w jakim celu przyjeżdża do Polski? — "Poland as a Country of Immigration — Who Comes and Why?" (academic study on the composition and motivations of new arrivals to Poland)
• [RAPORT] Postawy wobec legalnych imigrantów w Polsce — "Report: Attitudes Toward Legal Immigrants in Poland" (survey report on Polish public attitudes toward legal immigration, including labour market concerns)
• Porozmawiajmy poważnie o migracjach — "Let Us Talk Seriously About Migration" (Polish public debate article on the need for evidence-based migration policy)
• [PDF] Imigracja. Polityka i percepcja społeczna - Sejm — "Immigration: Policy and Social Perception" (Sejm publication on the relationship between immigration policy and public opinion in Poland)

Canada — 24 local sources searched

• Canadian Multiculturalism — "Canadian Multiculturalism" (Government of Canada overview of multiculturalism as official policy and national identity)
• Shifting Borders: Canadian Attitudes Towards Immigration - Broadbent Institute — "Shifting Borders: Canadian Attitudes Towards Immigration" (Broadbent Institute survey analysis of changing Canadian attitudes)
• IRCC Minister Transition Binder 2025-05 - Public Opinion Research on Canadians' Attitudes Towards Immigration - Canada.ca — "Public Opinion Research on Canadians' Attitudes Towards Immigration" (IRCC internal research document on evolving Canadian public opinion)
• Early Political and Public Responses to Canada's Official Multiculturalism Policy, 1971-1972 | Canadian Museum of Immigration at Pier 21 — "Early Responses to Canada's Official Multiculturalism Policy" (historical context for the founding of the policy in 1971)
• [PDF] Does Multiculturalism Isolate People? Diversity, social capital, and ... — "Does Multiculturalism Isolate People? Diversity, Social Capital, and Integration" (Canadian academic analysis questioning whether multicultural policy fosters or hinders social cohesion)

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Methodology

All three searches were run on 18 June 2026 using LikeLoc, which queries each country's local internet in the local language and returns AI-summarised results in English. The search query was identical across all three countries: "how people view immigration and multiculturalism in their country". Australia returned 25 sources (English), Poland 29 (Polish), and Canada 24 (English). All cited figures and named sources come directly from those local results.