A province-wide poll of over 2,500 participants in Quebec, Canada has found majority support for reciprocal freedom of movement with Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom.
Written by James Skinner
The poll was conducted between December 5th 2017 and March 5th 2018, asking residents of Quebec (who were Canadian citizens) if they favoured reciprocal visa-free and permit-free travel with Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom.
The question posed to participants read:
“Before 1970, citizens of Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom exercised reciprocal freedom of movement with each other, providing rights for citizens to live and work indefinitely in these countries without the requirement of time-limited visas or work permits.
Providing strict health, character and security requirements were implemented, would you support or oppose the reintroduction of such living and working rights for citizens of Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom?”
The poll surveyed 2,533 participants via independent online polling methods, with over 63% supporting the reintroduction of free movement between the CANZUK countries and only 21% opposing.
Just over 15% stated they were not sure, or were impartial to the measures.
All respondents were verified to live in Quebec, and only answers from Canadian citizens were taken into consideration when accumulating the results.
Until now, no national or provincial polling had been undertaken to research attitudes towards CANZUK free movement in Quebec, with many academics and journalists questioning if it would be received positively given Quebec’s majority francophone population and previous separatist referendums.
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However, the latest poll reveals a significant majority in favour of reciprocal free movement with Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom. Of those supporting the initiative, 81% said they felt confident enough to live and work in the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand (despite many speaking French as a primary language), with over 93% saying they would welcome British, Australian and New Zealand citizens to live and work in Quebec.
CANZUK International will be publishing the results of this poll later in the month, and will be releasing the results to Members of Parliament in the province of Quebec in April, 2018.
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