Bank of Canada Report Says Immigration Driving Up Housing Prices, Inflation

Poilievre Advocates for Decreased Population Growth due to Housing and Health Care Challenges

August 30, 2024 TruthUSA

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre suggests that Canada’s population growth should be reduced for sustainability, citing the strain the current numbers are placing on the country.

“We need to slow down population growth. It’s imperative,” Poilievre expressed to reporters in Ottawa on Aug. 29.

“We cannot continue to grow the population three times faster than the housing stock as [Prime Minister Justin Trudeau] has been doing. Our growth rate should be lower than that of housing, healthcare, and employment,” he emphasized.

In recent years, both temporary and permanent immigration have surged, with targets set to reach 500,000 by 2025 and the number of permanent residents doubling from 2021 to 2024, surpassing 2.7 million. The number of work permit holders was slightly over half a million in 2021 and rose to over 1.3 million in the second quarter of 2024.

Poilievre noted that the growth of international students had outpaced that of the housing stock and that fraud and abuse in the temporary foreign worker program had damaged what was once considered the best immigration system globally.

If elected as prime minister, Poilievre outlined that the temporary foreign worker program would only be used to fill roles that Canadians are unable or unwilling to do. Furthermore, international students would be permitted to enter Canada only if they can financially support themselves, have housing arrangements, and have valid admission letters from accredited educational institutions.

New Measures

During a Liberal cabinet retreat on Aug. 26, Immigration Minister Marc Miller announced that Ottawa was implementing measures to decrease the number of temporary foreign workers in Canada.

“Given the changing landscape, we are no longer facing the same labor shortages as before. Therefore, our policies must also adapt,” he stated, hinting at additional reduction measures to follow.

The new regulations include restricting temporary foreign worker applications in low-wage sectors in metropolitan areas with 6 percent or higher unemployment rates, with exceptions made for “food security sectors” like agriculture and fish processing. Additionally, employers are prohibited from hiring more than 10 percent of their total workforce through the program. These stricter rules are anticipated to reduce the number of temporary foreign workers by 65,000.

A day prior on Aug. 26, Trudeau also mentioned that the government is contemplating reducing the number of permanent residents accepted into Canada annually. “These are ongoing discussions among our cabinet members that will continue in the coming months,” the prime minister informed the press.

Recent polling data revealed that 65 percent of Canadians view the government’s plan to welcome 500,000 new immigrants in both 2025 and 2026 as “excessive,” with 20 percent considering it appropriate and 3 percent deeming it insufficient. The survey also indicated that 78 percent believe immigration is exacerbating the country’s housing crisis, 76 percent think it is straining healthcare services, and 72 percent feel the government’s immigration policy is overly lenient.

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