“This is not about immigration, this is about math,” Opposition Leader Pierre Poilievre said at a news conference last week. His comments come amid growing concerns about Canada’s housing crisis and rising anti-immigrant rhetoric.
Speaking to reporters, Poilievre explained that if his party wins the next federal election, they will limit population growth to match the number of homes being built. “It’s not about whether you support immigration or not; it’s about basic math,” he said.
The Conservative leader made it clear that his priority is to address the housing shortage and said Canada’s immigration system needs reform to do so. He pointed to the imbalance between the number of homes being built and the pace at which the population is growing.
“We’re only building about 240,000 homes a year, which is a 1.4 per cent increase in housing supply, but under Trudeau and the NDP the population is up almost 3 per cent. It’s no wonder we’re running out of housing,” Poilievre said.
While specific figures on the proposed immigration cap have not been released, he stressed the urgency of aligning population growth with housing availability. “We cannot increase population faster than we build housing, otherwise we will see an even worse shortage.”
Reduction in the number of international students
In addition to limiting overall population growth, Poilievre said his government would scale back the international student program, which he believes has spiraled out of control.
“We’re going back to the system we had before Justin Trudeau,” he said. “A modest number of very promising young people who excelled could come here, study and, if they followed the rules, they could stay.”
She pointed to stories of overcrowding in cities like Brampton, where reports emerged of more than 20 students living in a basement. Since 2015, the number of international students in Canada has risen from 350,000 to more than a million last year, a situation Poilievre says is unsustainable.
Impact on the labor market
It is not just the real estate sector that is feeling the pressure of immigration figures in Canada. Poilievre also expressed concern about the impact on the labour market. Recent statistics on unemployment in the country showed an increase from 6.4% in July to 6.6% in August.
“Last month we added 96,400 people to the working-age population, but we didn’t create enough jobs for them,” he said. “We lost 44,000 full-time jobs in that same period and 60,000 more people joined the unemployment rolls.”
Statistics Canada, the national statistics agency, has echoed similar concerns, noting that job growth is not keeping pace with population growth.
“Given this rate of population growth, employment growth of around 50,000 jobs per month is needed just to maintain the employment rate,” the agency warned.
Beyond housing and employment, the rising cost of living continues to weigh heavily on Canadians. Canada’s inflation rate, while down from its peak, remains a concern for many, particularly in areas such as food and housing.
By July 2024, rental and housing costs rose by 5.7%, with cities like Toronto and Vancouver seeing the most dramatic increases. Poilievre said uncontrolled population growth is exacerbating these problems.
Deportation of lawbreakers
Poilievre also addressed the issue of immigration enforcement, saying that while Canada should welcome those who make positive contributions, those who break the law should be deported.
“If you follow the rules, pay taxes and learn one of our official languages, you should stay. But if you are breaking the laws and cheating the system, then you have to go,” he said in response to questions about growing calls for stricter deportation measures for immigrants involved in criminal activities.
Canada has also seen a rise in fraudulent activities linked to the international student system. Last year, around 700 Indian students from Punjab faced deportation after discovering that the offer letters they had received from Canadian universities were fake. Brijesh Mishra, a 37-year-old educational consultant from Jalandhar, India, was arrested in Surrey, British Columbia, for his role in the scam.
Mishra had been operating on an expired tourist visa and was sentenced to three years in prison for providing fake admission letters to prospective students. According to authorities, he charged between Rs 14 and Rs 16 lakh per student, promising them a smooth entry into Canada’s education system.
An investigation by the Canadian Border Services Agency (CBSA) found that Mishra’s actions affected hundreds of students between 2016 and 2020. As a result, the federal government has been investigating more than 2,000 similar cases involving fraudulent letters.
Canadians’ concerns about immigration
Immigration has become an increasingly hot topic in Canadian election campaigns. A recent poll by Leger, a Canadian market research and analysis firm, found that 65% of Canadians believe the government is admitting too many immigrants. Of those surveyed, 78% said they felt immigration rates were contributing to the housing crisis, and 72% thought Canada’s immigration policy was too lenient.
Poilievre believes his proposed reforms will resonate with voters. “This is not about closing the door to immigration,” he said. “This is about making sure we can sustain the growth we have without putting our housing market, job market and public services under unbearable pressure.”
First published: September 16, 2024 | 14:36 IS
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