OTTAWA - A majority of Canadians think the government's immigration policy should focus on pumping up the national workforce and reuniting families, suggests a new poll.

The findings come as a controversial government bill, which gives the immigration minister special powers to hand pick new citizens, is likely to pass in the House this week.

A poll conducted by Nanos Research for Policy Options magazine suggests 72.6 per cent of Canadians feel immigration is "important" or "somewhat important" for the future of the country.

When asked what focus government should give to immigrant applicants, 84.9 per cent of Canadians thought it was important to select immigrants whose skills meet the needs of Canada's starved workforce, and about 81.1 per cent thought family reunification was just as important.

"Canada sees immigration policy as a nation-building exercise from the point of view of our economy and of the family," said Nik Nanos, president of the research firm. "Canadians were on board in terms of making sure when someone does come to Canada, that they've got the skills Canada needs to be stronger."

Nanos said the poll was conducted in anticipation of a proposed Conservative bill, which would reform the country's immigration regulations. Bill C-50 is likely to pass on Thursday.

The reforms remove the Immigration Department's obligation to process all permanent-residence applications, and allows the minister to instruct officers to fast track certain kinds of applications.

Nanos says "Canadians will respond positively to the bill's intent," which the Tories say will reduce backlog the of 925,000 applicants and increase the presence of needed workers.

"But, (Canadians) will probably wait to see what kind of outcomes it produces... On the positive side of the ledger, it gives Conservatives flexibility to set priorities and shape immigration policies. On the down side, they're also taking more ownership of the outcomes," Nanos said.

New Democrat MP Olivia Chow says the minister should not be given control over who gets in to the country. She would rather see an objective system set up to meet the demands of the economy, she said.

"There are better ways of bringing in skilled labour than relying on just the opinion of the minister. I'd much rather rely on professionals that can measure what skills are required in Canada," she said.

Nanos Research polled 1,002 Canadians by telephone for the study which appears in the June edition of Policy Options. The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 per cent, 19 times out of 20.

Chow said in other countries such as Australia, a professional "skill testing centre" is set up to determine what kind of workers, with what type of skill sets, are brought into the country. The result is a relatively high employment rate for immigrants.

Ed Komarnicki, parliamentary secretary to Immigration Minister Diane Finley, told Canwest News Service earlier the proposed bill will prevent the backlog of applicants on waiting lists from growing. The government would then work to reduce the backlog through additional funding of $109 million over five years, he said.

But Chow says the bill will do nothing to unclog the system. Earlier this month, the House's immigration committee, which opposed the bill, argued the bill would fail to address the backlog because applications filed before Feb. 27, 2008, would be exempt.

The current Canadian "points system" is flawed because it relies heavily on what post-secondary degree the applicant holds, and what language the applicant speaks, rather than what they can do for the economy, Chow said.

"If we are to fix the immigration system, which we need to, we will have to change the points system - which would bring in people that have the skills we need in Canada," Chow said.