Canada’s Immigration Problem: Not Enough Homes for Newcomers
Wall Street JournalOct 07, 2022
Canada's population increased by over a million for the first time in its history in 2022, government census agency Statistics Canada said on Wednesday.
The country's population was estimated at 39,566,248 on Jan. 1, 2023, after a record population annual growth rate — of 2.7% — since 1957.
While a growing population brings new energy and ideas, it comes as Canada struggles with a serious housing crisis. The country needs 3.5M additional homes above current home-building projections by 2030 to restore housing affordability. The government can increase immigration and help corporations, but it must remember a country can't build a thriving economy on temporary residents who threaten to congest the existing health, public, and social services.
The Canadian system absorbs well-educated, highly skilled, and entrepreneurial migrants with strong earnings prospects to support its economy. Canada never puts refugees or immigrants in shelters for political stunts — it puts them to work as immigration is a vital part of solving the acute labor market shortages and building a strong economy into the future.