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Trudeau admits immigration too much for Canada to ‘absorb’ but keeps target at record high

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From LifeSiteNews

By Clare Marie Merkowsky

Despite his admission that the influx of people has outpaced Canada’s ability to sustain itself, Trudeau said he is committed to continuing his government’s plan to bring in 500,000 permanent immigrants each year.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has admitted that his mass immigration policies have driven Canadians’ wages down and attributed to the housing crisis, but he still insists on bringing in hundreds of thousands of people each year.  

During an April 2 media conference in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, Trudeau acknowledged that his immigration policies have negatively affected Canadians after a journalist questioned him on how his policies have contributed to record high unaffordability in the nation.  

“Over the past few years, we’ve seen a massive spike in temporary immigration, whether it’s temporary foreign workers or whether it’s international students in particular that have grown at a rate far beyond what Canada has been able to absorb,” he admitted.  

“To give an example, in 2017, two per cent of Canada’s population was made up of temporary immigrants,” Trudeau continued. “Now we’re at 7.5 per cent of our population comprised of temporary immigrants. That’s something we need to get back under control.”  

Amid heckling from protestors, Trudeau acknowledged that the immigration crisis must be solved. However, he attributed the negative effects only to the spike in “temporary” immigrants, who he claims are “putting pressure on our communities.”

“That’s something that we need to get back under control, both for the benefit of those people because international students we’re seeing increasingly vulnerable to mental health challenges, to not being able to thrive and get the education they want,” he stated. 

“But also, increasingly more and more businesses [are] relying on temporary foreign workers in a way that is driving down wages in some sectors,” Trudeau continued.  

Despite the admission, Trudeau announced that he still plans to bring in permanent immigrants at a record pace, despite Canadians struggling to afford homes and even food.  

“Every year, we bring in about 450,000, now close to 500,000, permanent residents a year, and that is part of the necessary growth of Canada,” he insisted. “It benefits our citizens, our communities, it benefits our economy.”

While Trudeau remains insistent that mass immigration “benefits” the economy, recent figures show that the nation’s GDP per capita growth rate is dismal compared to other countries with lower relative immigration levels like the United States.

The Bank of Canada has even gone as far as saying that the weakening productivity of the nation’s economy has become “an emergency.”

In March, Canada reached a population of 41 million, just 9 months after hitting the 40 million mark. Such growth is unprecedented in recent history and among the highest immigration rates in the world.

Trudeau’s acknowledgment comes as a recent report found that Canada is one of the unhappiest places in the West for people in their 20s as young Canadians are experiencing the effects of Trudeau’s government, which has been criticized for its overspending, onerous climate regulations, lax immigration policies, and “woke” politics.     

Additionally, a March poll revealed that seven out of 10 Canadians believe the country is broken and that the Trudeau government does not focus on issues that matter. 

Furthermore, many have pointed out that considering rising home prices, many Canadians under 30 are at risk of never being able to purchase a home.

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Housing

Poilievre will cut sales tax on new homes under $1 Million saving tens of thousands

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From a Conservative Party of Canada news release

In a video released Monday, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has announced a plan to lower the cost of a new home’s worth under $1 million dollars.

Poilievre says a conservative government will axe the sales tax on new homes sold for less than $1 million.

That would cut the cost of an $800,000 home by $40,000 or a $500,000 home by $25,000.

Accordingly Poilievre says this will lead to the building of an extra 30,000 new homes every year.

The news could get even better as the PM hopeful says he’ll push provinces to drop their sales tax as well.

Poilievre plans to use money set aside in the Liberal’s Housing Accelerator Fund which he says has been ineffective.

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Economy

One Solution to Canada’s Housing Crisis: Move. Toronto loses nearly half million people to more affordable locations

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From the Frontier Centre for Public Policy

By Wendell Cox

The largest CMA, Toronto, had by far the most significant net internal migration loss at 402,600, Montreal lost 162,700, and Vancouver lost 49,700.

Canadians are fleeing overpriced cities to find more affordable housing. And restrictive urban planning policies are to blame.

Canadians may be solving the housing crisis on their own by moving away from more expensive areas to areas where housing is much more affordable. This trend is highlighted in the latest internal migration data from Statistics Canada.

The data covers 167 areas comprising the entire nation, including Census Metropolitan Areas (CMAs), which have populations from 100,000 to seven million. It also includes the smaller Census Agglomerations (CAs), which have a core population of at least 10,000, as well as areas outside CMAs and CAs in each province and territory, which are referred to as “largely rural areas.”

Long-standing migration trends have been virtually reversed. Larger cities (CMAs) now see the highest loss of net internal migrants, while smaller cities (CAs) are experiencing solid gains. Between 2019 and 2023, Canada’s CMAs lost 273,800 net internal migrants to smaller areas, including CAs and largely rural areas. This contrasts sharply with the previous five-year period (2014 to 2018) when CMAs saw only a 1,000-person loss.

So, where did these people go? A significant portion – 108,100 – moved to CAs, which captured 39 per cent of the CMA losses. This is triple that of the previous five years (2014 through 2018).

However, the most notable shift occurred in largely rural areas, which gained 165,700 net internal migrants, representing 61 per cent of CMA losses. This is a dramatic increase compared to the 33,700 net loss in the previous five years.

Among the 167 areas, the migration data is stunning.

The areas experiencing the greatest net internal migration are outside CMAs and CAs. The largely rural area of Ontario saw the biggest gain, with a net increase of 78,300 people – nearly 40 times the number from the previous five years. Meanwhile, rural Quebec placed second, with a net gain of 76,200 people, more than 10 times the increase in the prior five years. The Calgary CMA ranked third (and first among CMAs) at 42,600, followed by the Ottawa Gatineau CMA (Ontario and Quebec) at 36,700 and the Oshawa CMA at 34,900.

The largest CMA, Toronto, had by far the most significant net internal migration loss at 402,600, Montreal lost 162,700, and Vancouver lost 49,700. Outside these CMAs, nearly all areas posted net gains.

People have also started moving to the Maritimes. The Halifax CMA tripled its previous gain (21,300). In New Brunswick, Moncton nearly quadrupled its gain (7,000). Modest gains were also made in Fredericton and Saint John as well as in Charlottetown in Prince Edward Island.

Meanwhile, housing affordability in Canada’s largest CMAs has become grim. Toronto’s median house price to median household income has doubled in less than two decades. Vancouver’s prices have tripled relative to incomes in five decades. Montreal’s house prices nearly doubled relative to incomes over two decades.

These CMAs (and others) have housing policies typical of the international planning orthodoxy, which seeks to make cities denser. In effect, they have declared war against “urban sprawl,” trying to stop any material expansion of urbanization. These urban containment policies, which include greenbelts, agricultural reserves, urban growth boundaries and compact city strategies, are associated with the worst housing affordability. Land prices are skewed upward throughout the market. Demand continues to increase ahead of incomes, but the supply of low-cost suburban land, so crucial to controlling costs, is frozen.

Regrettably, some areas where people have fled are also subject to urban containment and housing affordability has deteriorated rapidly. Between 2015 and 2022, prices in Ontario CMAs London, Guelph, Brantford and St. Catharines have about doubled. BC’s Fraser Valley and Vancouver Island have seen similar increases. Those moving to these areas are ahead financially, but the rapidly rising house prices are closing opportunities.

There are proposals to restore housing affordability, though none tackle the urban containment policies associated with the price increases. Indeed, we have not found a single metropolitan area where housing affordability has been restored with the market distortions of the intensity that have developed in Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal (not in our Demographia International Housing Affordability report or elsewhere). Such markets have become unsustainable for most new entrant households because they cannot afford to live there.

Housing is not a commodity. Households have varying preferences, from ground-oriented housing (detached and townhomes) to high-rise condos. Indeed, a growing body of literature associates detached housing with higher total fertility rates. According to Statistics Canada, Canadians have favoured lower densities for decades, a trend that continued through the 2021 Census, a trend that continued through the 2021 Census, according to Statistics Canada.

With governments (virtually around the world) failing to maintain stable and affordable housing markets, it’s not surprising people are taking matters into their own hands. Until fundamental reforms can be implemented in the most expensive markets, those seeking a better quality of life will have no choice but to leave.

First published in the Financial Post.

Wendell Cox is a senior fellow at the Frontier Centre for Public Policy and the author of Demographia International Housing Affordability.

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