I think coupled with a National General Strike, which BTW the billionaires are absolutely terrified about it would put an end to this administration. We have history to learn from. Fun fact, Hitler was equally terrified of this same thing.
About this time last year I began moving my retirement investments out of the U.S. No longer trusted my own country. Never thought I'd say that. Gold, silver, foreign currencies (including CAD), and international (ex US) bond and stock funds. It's all just so very sad.
It was the same with many of the EU migrants to the UK. Young, no dependants, paying taxes but basically not using health services substantially staffed by themselves. Paying for retirement benefits that they wouldn’t stay long enough to qualify for, never mind collect. Stay a few years and improve their English enough to get a better job in their own country. Return. Post Brexit and the end of free movement they don’t come. Reduction in immigration from EU about 250,000 a year.
But we do need immigrants who now come from much further away. With dependants who do use health services. And stay. About 650,000.
We have an increasingly aged population and not enough births to stop the ratio worsening. So who pays to look after us in old age? Who pays the taxes to support that? The latest suggestion from the Brexit Party/Reform (Farage party rebranded)? To increase taxes on those who don’t have children! Not exactly a short term solution.
When the UK had free movement, you got young working-age folks showing up, paying taxes, using almost nothing, then often leaving before collecting a dime.
That’s basically the dream customer of any tax system.
Then Nigel Farage and the Reform UK crowd sold everyone the fantasy that fewer immigrants = more money.
Reality?
You lost ~250,000 low-cost, tax-paying workers…
and replaced them with fewer but higher-cost arrivals with families who actually need services.
So the ledger flipped.
Costs up.
Contributors down.
Add an aging population and low birth rate and suddenly the whole system looks like a pension scheme with not enough payers.
And their solution is… tax people for not having kids?
That’s not policy.
That’s desperation with a spreadsheet.
Every modern country is facing the same cold fact...
Fred, excellent article explaining the shitscape of America as we type. At your age, no shame in utilizing our devices for good.
I wish there still were ‘adults in the room’ in the US of A but tRump and his minions have set their fascism well in to motion. I have to hope they will be outed, prosecuted and jailed. The world is watching. The billionaire class needs to be destroyed and its monies used to rebuild their country. We shall see…
I think people understand the difference between legal immigration and open borders and abuses of our immigration systems. Polling widely suggests people understand and appreciate legal immigration but not abuses of the system.
Your article doesn't seem make these distinctions and makes it appears there is no controversy in Canada and Europe over how recent immigration has taken place. I assure you that polling in Canada, even amongst immigrants and non white populations, show these communities are not happy about recent policies either. I wouldn't be surprised if majorities in Europe are not thrilled either.
Every country would like skilled nurses and other professionals and tax paying business people to immigrate. This is not where the controversy is.
You’re welcome, but you need to come here and embrace our Canadian medical system to make it better. Do not expect the same outcomes as your system in the United States. We operate differently and don’t even think of using the word communism.
C’mon up, you’ll be an immigrant and be contributing to a real multicultural country that embraces all nationalities to work together for the greater good. Please read that twice.
PS: do not bring your guns or hubris. We don’t do those here.
Please come. You pretty well will have your pic of whatever city or town or community you wish to live in. With the new Carney government, they are trying to improve and shorten the immigration system, but these things take time and it has to pass through Parliament, of course. So please take a good look at it.
All true. But the Maple Magats would like to eliminate new immigrants coming to Canada, or at best severely restrict them. Just like MAGAs in the US, they are blaming immigrants for all our ills, rather than their own MAGA-inspired actions. See Smith in Alberta, Moe in Saskatchewan, and, of course, Poilivre in Ottawa in particular.
Well, look what 11 years of liberals have done for our country. Carney was Trudeau’s advisor don’t forget. Now he is letting China in even further. Carney is most dangerous. Wake up.
NO NO NO - I don’t know 🤷♀️ where you’re getting your information from, or what mindset you’re locked into that is not able to entertain actual reality, but you are very incorrect.
You are promoting an incorrect narrative. More, smith, and Poilievre and more have all said immigration must be done carefully. Too many, too fast, with little to no vetting created a crisis situation. So many living in crowded homes, violent gangs, pushing their religion and ideals instead of becoming ‘Canadian’ (whatever that means today). Immigrants posing as refugees getting access to 80,000 dollars per year and free health care and dental etc…. This is the problem. Not most immigrants but the way it has been done.
I appreciate a civil response, and am quite prepared to acknowledge if I have erred.
You allege quite a few things about immigrants in Canada and why they're a problem. Do you have any evidence (other than anecdotal) to substantiate those allegations? That is, reputable research that clearly statistically verifies your assertions.
My concern is about policy execution... housing capacity, infrastructure strain, credential recognition... which are well documented in Statistics Canada and PBO reports.
I write commentary, not academic papers, but I base my views on publicly available data... not anecdotes.
If you’re interested, those reports are easy to find and worth reading.
And I have no questions about what you raised. I am aware of your sources, and they are reputable. And yes, you gotta wonder about decisions to attract thousands of immigrants without having a plan in place to ensure there is the infrastructure in place to accommodate that population influx.
I was replying to and questioning the assertions posted by PCA.
Look at the amount of fraud in Minnesota alone… TENS OF BILLIONS per year from just the Somali immigrant group.
And the social services they’re taking advantage of as well. Some immigrants are 80% on welfare..for GENERATIONS.
And the billions of dollars sent back to their home countries every year. That’s not contributing to the economy here at all.
Negatives outweigh the positives in many cases.
Not all, but there’s not enough vetting, especially in Canada where there is NO vetting and they take in millions of low-skill, low-IQ, low-trust immigrants. Giving away billions in health care and making 10’s of thousands of Canadian suffer and die as a result.
Let alone the strain on housing and rent prices!!!
I get the frustration... housing, healthcare, services… those pressures are real.
But we’ve gotta be careful about jumping from “the system is strained” to “entire groups are the problem.”
Claims like “tens of billions from one immigrant group” or “no vetting” just don’t line up with reality.
Minnesota has fraud cases like every state does... usually tied to specific programs or criminals, not whole communities. Crime and fraud are enforcement problems, not ethnicity problems.
Same with Canada... we absolutely do vet. Slowly, sometimes clumsily, sometimes badly… but not “no vetting.”
And here’s the piece people skip...
If immigration were purely a net negative, our economies would already be shrinking fast.
We simply don’t have enough young workers being born to fund pensions, hospitals, and services without newcomers paying taxes.
So it’s not “immigration or not.”
It’s...
Good management vs bad management.
Bad planning → housing crunch, long waits, resentment.
Good planning → workers, taxpayers, growth.
Blaming millions of people because governments screwed up execution doesn’t fix anything.
Your house is flooding…you turn off the tap. You don’t start putting up new drywall over the burst pipes.
I never said to stop immigration. Some is usually needed, but Canada has lost control and it’s being abused at extraordinary cost to the taxpayers.
Also, the low skill, low wage workers rarely contribute to the tax base.
“The bottom 20% of income-earning families (roughly aligning with low-wage earners, with family incomes up to around $65,000 in recent estimates) pay only about 0.7–0.8% of all federal and provincial personal income taxes, while earning around 4.8–5% of total family income. Many in this group pay an average personal income tax rate of just 2.4% (or effectively less after credits).”
How about these sources… even the CBC acknowledges students are not vetted properly or at all. To say nothing of the hordes of “refugees”. There’s no way we can vet millions every year!
“In 2024, CSIS alone received over 538,000 screening requests from immigration and border officials. Years ago, a year-long CSIS check meant in-depth inquiries. Today, with over half-a-million requests annually, it means running names through databases while managers pressure analysts to clear backlogs. Thoroughness gets sacrificed for expediency.”
How about these sources… even the CBC acknowledges students are not vetted properly or at all. To say nothing of the hordes of “refugees”. There’s no way we can vet millions every year!
“In 2024, CSIS alone received over 538,000 screening requests from immigration and border officials. Years ago, a year-long CSIS check meant in-depth inquiries. Today, with over half-a-million requests annually, it means running names through databases while managers pressure analysts to clear backlogs. Thoroughness gets sacrificed for expediency.”
OlderMaybeWiser... appreciate you bringing sources.
Two things can be true at the same time...
Screening volume really is huge. Multiple reports cite CSIS receiving 538,000+ security screening requests in 2024.
That doesn’t justify the “hordes” / “millions” framing. When we talk like that, we stop discussing capacity and start scapegoating people.
This is the real point: if Ottawa ramps up intake, it has to properly fund screening, housing, and enforcement... otherwise the system turns into triage and backlogs. That’s a government planning failure, not a personality contest.
Also: the CBC-linked reporting about international students not being required to provide a police certificate is part of this broader “process gap” conversation.
If you want a productive thread, keep it on process + capacity + accountability... not slogans.
I was on a community development corporation CDC in Rural Manitoba looking into housing for 55+ people that wanted to leave bigger homes and go into something smaller but stay in their home community.
We also need housing for the young people early 20s that finished their education and wanted to come back home to live in their communities, but not move back into their parents house. The fact that we have a housing shortage in Canada is a lot on the backs of the government, both provincial and federal .
We had a business person that was ready to invest in this type of housing, but needed grants or partners within the provincial and federal governments to make it financially feasible.
Right, and Carny has done nothing but enrich his cronies, companies, and himself.
Any benefit to actual Canadians is merely a press release or announcement about “plans” or “commitments” or “frameworks”…and they result it nothing. Except for more taxes, more slush funds, an ZERO RESULTS.
Right, and Carny has done nothing but enrich his cronies, companies, and himself.
Any benefit to actual Canadians is merely a press release or announcement about “plans” or “commitments” or “frameworks”…and they result it nothing. Except for more taxes, more slush funds, an ZERO RESULTS.
Im and immigrant. I received no money to settle here and didnt bring very much with me. I now run a business that provides for my family and 6 employees and give back to our community. There are many stories like mine.
I had to have a criminal background check and given a 2 year work visa. Im now a Canadian Citizen.
Stories like yours are exactly what immigration is supposed to look like... people building lives, creating jobs, contributing to communities, and becoming part of the country.
Canada has always grown through people willing to take that risk and put in the work.
Carole... fair question. Here’s one concrete “receipt” example, since screening capacity is what’s being argued about in this thread...
CSIS reported receiving 538,000+ immigration/border security screening requests in 2024 (up from about 493,000 in 2023, and well above the - 300,000/year range in prior years).
If you tell me which specific claim in my post you think is wrong, I’ll pull the matching source (StatsCan / CMHC / IRCC / PBO / AG) and point to the exact line.
Trump is doing nothing good in any direction at all. If he isn't putin's asset he sure acts like he is. He just continues to shoot America in the foot over and over again. When he's done, the US will be forced to take it's place as a much lesser power in the world.
There seems to be a Blindspot in the reporting. The author says immigrants leaving the United States are going north to Canada or to Europe. How about south? Over the past decade, more Mexicans have headed from the United States to Mexico to live then vice versa. Mexico’s economy is larger than Spain’s, now the 14th largest in the world. And Mexico is doing something that the United States is not: Investing in the public good, like infrastructure, transportation, education, heath. Mexico recently decreed that gig workers like Uber drivers are employees, so they can get (public) medical and other benefits. It’s doing what countries that want to build themselves up do. I am a professional who moved to Mexico in 2022 and couldn’t be happier with my decision — especially now in winter, when I’m enjoying shorts weather every day and people living in Canada definitely are not (A lot of them are here on vacation 🙂).
That’s a fair point... Mexico’s trajectory over the past decade has been stronger than many people realize.
Nearshoring, manufacturing growth, and infrastructure investment are changing the economic map in North America.
My focus in this piece was specifically Canada’s position relative to the U.S. and Europe, but you’re right that southbound migration and Mexico’s development story deserve more attention in the broader conversation.
I think coupled with a National General Strike, which BTW the billionaires are absolutely terrified about it would put an end to this administration. We have history to learn from. Fun fact, Hitler was equally terrified of this same thing.
There’s definitely history there.
Authoritarians hate one thing more than protests…
They hate people simply withholding their labour.
No drama.
No riots.
Just… “Nope. Not today.”
That’s scarier to power than any sign or slogan.
Even Adolf Hitler knew a country stops functioning the second workers stop showing up. No trains. No factories. No supply chains. Game over.
Billionaires understand that math real fast.
But here’s where I land…
It doesn’t even have to get that dramatic.
Bad policy collapses under its own weight eventually.
You can’t fire your skilled workforce, scare investors, bully allies, and expect the economy to clap.
Reality always sends the bill.
And lately?
Canada looks like the quieter, saner neighbour investors would rather park their money with.
No shouting required.
Just competence.
Funny how that wins.
About this time last year I began moving my retirement investments out of the U.S. No longer trusted my own country. Never thought I'd say that. Gold, silver, foreign currencies (including CAD), and international (ex US) bond and stock funds. It's all just so very sad.
It was the same with many of the EU migrants to the UK. Young, no dependants, paying taxes but basically not using health services substantially staffed by themselves. Paying for retirement benefits that they wouldn’t stay long enough to qualify for, never mind collect. Stay a few years and improve their English enough to get a better job in their own country. Return. Post Brexit and the end of free movement they don’t come. Reduction in immigration from EU about 250,000 a year.
But we do need immigrants who now come from much further away. With dependants who do use health services. And stay. About 650,000.
We have an increasingly aged population and not enough births to stop the ratio worsening. So who pays to look after us in old age? Who pays the taxes to support that? The latest suggestion from the Brexit Party/Reform (Farage party rebranded)? To increase taxes on those who don’t have children! Not exactly a short term solution.
This is the part people keep missing.
Immigration isn’t charity.
It’s math.
When the UK had free movement, you got young working-age folks showing up, paying taxes, using almost nothing, then often leaving before collecting a dime.
That’s basically the dream customer of any tax system.
Then Nigel Farage and the Reform UK crowd sold everyone the fantasy that fewer immigrants = more money.
Reality?
You lost ~250,000 low-cost, tax-paying workers…
and replaced them with fewer but higher-cost arrivals with families who actually need services.
So the ledger flipped.
Costs up.
Contributors down.
Add an aging population and low birth rate and suddenly the whole system looks like a pension scheme with not enough payers.
And their solution is… tax people for not having kids?
That’s not policy.
That’s desperation with a spreadsheet.
Every modern country is facing the same cold fact...
If you don’t import workers,
you can’t fund retirees.
It’s not cultural.
It’s arithmetic.
Governments can argue all day.
The numbers don’t care.
Fred, excellent article explaining the shitscape of America as we type. At your age, no shame in utilizing our devices for good.
I wish there still were ‘adults in the room’ in the US of A but tRump and his minions have set their fascism well in to motion. I have to hope they will be outed, prosecuted and jailed. The world is watching. The billionaire class needs to be destroyed and its monies used to rebuild their country. We shall see…
Keep Calm and Carney On!
🇨🇦🦫🍁🇨🇦
Thanks Debra... appreciate that.
And yeah… I try to keep it simple and useful, not apocalyptic.
There’s plenty wrong down there without us needing to crank it to eleven.
History usually handles this stuff the same way it always has...
Bad leadership burns hot…
then burns out.
Institutions, laws, and plain old reality eventually catch up.
I’m less interested in destroying anybody and more interested in something boring...
Accountability.
Competence.
Adults back in charge.
That’s how countries actually recover.
And from up here in Canada, we just keep doing what we do best... stay steady, stay sane, build our own house properly.
“Keep Calm and Carney On” might be the most Canadian strategy ever… and honestly? It works. 😄
Your words sound wonderfully Canadian. Steady, patient and resilient.
💯!
Please consider coming to my beautiful home province of Prince Edward Island!
We need physicians of all kinds, and nurses and other health care workers, too!
https://www.princeedwardisland.ca/en/information/health-pei/job-opportunities-for-physicians
https://jobspei.ca/pei-health-jobs
Love this.
For anyone even half-thinking about it, Prince Edward Island isn’t just “a job opportunity”... it’s a lifestyle upgrade.
Short commutes.
Real communities.
Ocean five minutes away.
And patients who actually know your name.
Plus we genuinely need healthcare pros. Not “nice to have.” Needed.
So if you’re a physician or nurse and tired of the grind where you are… this is one of those rare win-wins.
You help a community.
The community takes care of you right back.
Hard to beat that deal.
I really enjoy reading your work. Excellent reporting. Thank you.
Thanks Susan... that genuinely means a lot.
I’m not a reporter… I’m more of a translator.
I take the tangled mess and put it back into plain English so regular folks can see what’s actually going on.
If it feels clear and readable, that’s the win.
Appreciate you being here and taking the time to say so. 🙏
I think people understand the difference between legal immigration and open borders and abuses of our immigration systems. Polling widely suggests people understand and appreciate legal immigration but not abuses of the system.
Your article doesn't seem make these distinctions and makes it appears there is no controversy in Canada and Europe over how recent immigration has taken place. I assure you that polling in Canada, even amongst immigrants and non white populations, show these communities are not happy about recent policies either. I wouldn't be surprised if majorities in Europe are not thrilled either.
Every country would like skilled nurses and other professionals and tax paying business people to immigrate. This is not where the controversy is.
Totally fair point... and you’re right about one thing...
Most people aren’t anti-immigration.
They’re anti-chaos.
There’s a big difference.
Every country wants nurses, tradespeople, engineers, business owners... folks who plug straight into the workforce and pay taxes on Day 1.
That’s just common sense.
Where people get cranky is when the system looks sloppy or overwhelmed.
Long waits.
Housing pressure.
Services stretched thin.
That’s not an immigration problem.
That’s a management problem.
Good policy = match intake to jobs + housing + infrastructure.
Bad policy = “let’s wing it and hope.”
And yeah... Canada and Europe both stumbled there the last few years.
But here’s the piece I always bring it back to...
With aging populations and low birth rates, countries like Canada and the UK don’t get to choose between immigration or no immigration.
We’re choosing between...
• planned immigration
or
• economic shrinkage
Those are the only two doors.
No third option hiding in the hallway.
So the real debate shouldn’t be “in or out.”
It should be...
“How do we run it competently?”
Because when it’s run well, nobody complains.
When it’s run badly, everybody yells.
Fair criticism doesn’t mean shut the door.
It means fix the plumbing.
Well said and so correct!
One sided propaganda
Yawn....🥱😵💫
As a physician, Canada is an intriguing possibility. The recruitment mechanism is still clumsy, but I might just do it.
Honestly, this is exactly the kind of immigration every country hopes for.
Experienced professionals.
Ready to work.
Pay taxes.
Help people on Day 1.
That’s not “strain on the system.”
That is the system.
And yeah… Canada can be bureaucratic and slow on the paperwork side. We’re not exactly famous for slick processes. 😄
But the need is very real.
We’ve got an aging population, family doctor shortages everywhere, ERs stretched thin.
So if you ever do make the jump, you wouldn’t be “taking” anything... you’d be walking straight into a place that genuinely needs you.
Clumsy recruitment we can fix.
Good doctors?
Those are gold.
What about expert drywall finishers? Do Canadians hate sanding as much as Americans? Lol
💯!
You’re welcome, but you need to come here and embrace our Canadian medical system to make it better. Do not expect the same outcomes as your system in the United States. We operate differently and don’t even think of using the word communism.
C’mon up, you’ll be an immigrant and be contributing to a real multicultural country that embraces all nationalities to work together for the greater good. Please read that twice.
PS: do not bring your guns or hubris. We don’t do those here.
We’re welcoming… just not interested in importing the chaos.
Coffee’s on. Ego stays outside.
You’re so kind, thanks.
Not sure if you’re being sarcastic but just giving you the inside track! 🙂
Nope... straight talk. Canada works best when folks show up ready to pitch in. That’s the whole deal.
Again, thanks. An American physician.
👌🏻👌🏻👌🏻
Please come. You pretty well will have your pic of whatever city or town or community you wish to live in. With the new Carney government, they are trying to improve and shorten the immigration system, but these things take time and it has to pass through Parliament, of course. So please take a good look at it.
Canada’s strength has always been simple:
show up, pitch in, and you’re one of us.
All true. But the Maple Magats would like to eliminate new immigrants coming to Canada, or at best severely restrict them. Just like MAGAs in the US, they are blaming immigrants for all our ills, rather than their own MAGA-inspired actions. See Smith in Alberta, Moe in Saskatchewan, and, of course, Poilivre in Ottawa in particular.
Yeah… it’s the same movie, just dubbed in Canadian.
Blame newcomers.
Blame outsiders.
Blame anyone who can’t fight back.
Meanwhile the real problems... housing policy, healthcare funding, provincial management... get conveniently ignored.
It’s easier to point fingers than fix spreadsheets.
You see it with Danielle Smith in Alberta, Scott Moe in Saskatchewan, and Pierre Poilievre out of Ottawa.
Different accents. Same playbook.
If hospitals are short-staffed and homes are unaffordable, that’s not caused by the nurse who just landed last week.
That’s policy choices.
Immigrants are just the easiest political scapegoat because they don’t have a microphone.
I’ve never bought the fear stuff.
Strong countries don’t shrink from the world.
They manage growth properly.
Competence beats slogans every time.
Putting my faith in PM Carney.
I’m cautiously optimistic too.
Competence beats chaos every time.
Well, look what 11 years of liberals have done for our country. Carney was Trudeau’s advisor don’t forget. Now he is letting China in even further. Carney is most dangerous. Wake up.
I’m less interested in fear and more interested in competence.
Calm beats chaos every time.
NO NO NO - I don’t know 🤷♀️ where you’re getting your information from, or what mindset you’re locked into that is not able to entertain actual reality, but you are very incorrect.
Let’s keep it civil, folks.
Different views are fine... that’s how we learn from each other.
Good point Fred. I stand admonished. To my credit though, I didn’t swear.
You’re good. Coffee’s still on. ☕
You are promoting an incorrect narrative. More, smith, and Poilievre and more have all said immigration must be done carefully. Too many, too fast, with little to no vetting created a crisis situation. So many living in crowded homes, violent gangs, pushing their religion and ideals instead of becoming ‘Canadian’ (whatever that means today). Immigrants posing as refugees getting access to 80,000 dollars per year and free health care and dental etc…. This is the problem. Not most immigrants but the way it has been done.
I think most people agree immigration has to be managed properly.
The issue isn’t “immigrants vs Canadians”... it’s whether the system keeps up with housing, jobs, and vetting.
Bad planning causes problems, not people.
I appreciate a civil response, and am quite prepared to acknowledge if I have erred.
You allege quite a few things about immigrants in Canada and why they're a problem. Do you have any evidence (other than anecdotal) to substantiate those allegations? That is, reputable research that clearly statistically verifies your assertions.
Good question.
I’m not arguing immigrants are “the problem.”
My concern is about policy execution... housing capacity, infrastructure strain, credential recognition... which are well documented in Statistics Canada and PBO reports.
I write commentary, not academic papers, but I base my views on publicly available data... not anecdotes.
If you’re interested, those reports are easy to find and worth reading.
And I have no questions about what you raised. I am aware of your sources, and they are reputable. And yes, you gotta wonder about decisions to attract thousands of immigrants without having a plan in place to ensure there is the infrastructure in place to accommodate that population influx.
I was replying to and questioning the assertions posted by PCA.
If the fascists intent isn’t to destroy this country, they’re doing an amazing job acting like it.
Okay with me that Canada prospers! 🇨🇦🇨🇦❤️❤️
Unfortunately the majority of economic harm done so far is to blue/Democrat states and businesses. Deliberately.
Thanks Fred. So happy that Canadians are (generally) smart people.
Appreciate you.
I think most Canadians have pretty good instincts... we just get buried under a mountain of noise and nonsense online.
Once you strip that away, common sense usually wins.
I highly doubt your assessment.
Look at the amount of fraud in Minnesota alone… TENS OF BILLIONS per year from just the Somali immigrant group.
And the social services they’re taking advantage of as well. Some immigrants are 80% on welfare..for GENERATIONS.
And the billions of dollars sent back to their home countries every year. That’s not contributing to the economy here at all.
Negatives outweigh the positives in many cases.
Not all, but there’s not enough vetting, especially in Canada where there is NO vetting and they take in millions of low-skill, low-IQ, low-trust immigrants. Giving away billions in health care and making 10’s of thousands of Canadian suffer and die as a result.
Let alone the strain on housing and rent prices!!!
Canada is cooked.
I get the frustration... housing, healthcare, services… those pressures are real.
But we’ve gotta be careful about jumping from “the system is strained” to “entire groups are the problem.”
Claims like “tens of billions from one immigrant group” or “no vetting” just don’t line up with reality.
Minnesota has fraud cases like every state does... usually tied to specific programs or criminals, not whole communities. Crime and fraud are enforcement problems, not ethnicity problems.
Same with Canada... we absolutely do vet. Slowly, sometimes clumsily, sometimes badly… but not “no vetting.”
And here’s the piece people skip...
If immigration were purely a net negative, our economies would already be shrinking fast.
We simply don’t have enough young workers being born to fund pensions, hospitals, and services without newcomers paying taxes.
So it’s not “immigration or not.”
It’s...
Good management vs bad management.
Bad planning → housing crunch, long waits, resentment.
Good planning → workers, taxpayers, growth.
Blaming millions of people because governments screwed up execution doesn’t fix anything.
Fix the plumbing.
Don’t burn down the house.
Right, fix the plumbing.
Your house is flooding…you turn off the tap. You don’t start putting up new drywall over the burst pipes.
I never said to stop immigration. Some is usually needed, but Canada has lost control and it’s being abused at extraordinary cost to the taxpayers.
Also, the low skill, low wage workers rarely contribute to the tax base.
“The bottom 20% of income-earning families (roughly aligning with low-wage earners, with family incomes up to around $65,000 in recent estimates) pay only about 0.7–0.8% of all federal and provincial personal income taxes, while earning around 4.8–5% of total family income. Many in this group pay an average personal income tax rate of just 2.4% (or effectively less after credits).”
Source: https://www.fraserinstitute.org/commentary/high-income-earners-pay-disproportionate-share-taxes-despite-ottawas-rhetoric
Also, I would argue that too many are part of the underground economy and pay no taxes at all.
I don’t disagree that pace matters... housing and services have to keep up.
But immigrants aren’t just a tax line item. They’re workers, renters, customers, and future taxpayers too.
Bad planning is the problem, not people.
Care to comment on the rampant fraud and corruption taking place in the immigration space in Canada?
Sure... but it’s a separate issue from this thread.
Immigration absolutely needs oversight and cleanup. No argument there.
Canada has had problems with...
• sketchy consultants
• diploma mills
• fake job offers
• people gaming the system
That’s not “racist to say”... it’s just reality.
Any big system with money and loopholes attracts scammers.
Same thing happens with taxes, subsidies, procurement… you name it.
But here’s where I stay practical...
Fraud means fix the rules.
Not torch the whole idea.
We tighten enforcement.
Close loopholes.
Actually prosecute the bad actors.
Because corruption is a management failure, not proof the entire concept is broken.
Every country deals with this stuff.
The solution’s boring and administrative… not ideological.
Clean it up and move on.
How about these sources… even the CBC acknowledges students are not vetted properly or at all. To say nothing of the hordes of “refugees”. There’s no way we can vet millions every year!
“In 2024, CSIS alone received over 538,000 screening requests from immigration and border officials. Years ago, a year-long CSIS check meant in-depth inquiries. Today, with over half-a-million requests annually, it means running names through databases while managers pressure analysts to clear backlogs. Thoroughness gets sacrificed for expediency.”
• https://macdonaldlaurier.ca/fixing-a-broken-system-canadas-immigration-security-screening-adam-hummel-for-inside-policy
• https://nationalpost.com/opinion/opinion-canada-has-lost-control-of-its-immigration-system-and-canadians-know-it
• https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/international-students-security-checks-crime-1.7340434
• https://macdonaldlaurier.ca/canada-must-urgently-fix-flawed-immigration-security-rules-sergio-r-karas-for-inside-policy
You’re not wrong that the system is strained.
When Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) is processing half a million+ screening requests a year, that’s not “deep vetting”… that’s triage.
At that volume, nobody’s doing detective work.
They’re doing database searches and hoping nothing flashes red.
That’s just math.
But here’s where I try to slow the conversation down a notch.
There’s a difference between:
• “the system is overwhelmed”
and
• “the people coming here are the problem.”
Those aren’t the same thing.
Most students, immigrants, and refugees aren’t the threat... they’re just people trying to build a life.
The real issue is government capacity and planning.
If you open the tap wide but don’t fund housing, screening, or infrastructure properly… you don’t get compassion or security.
You get chaos.
And chaos makes everybody mad at each other instead of mad at the people who designed the mess.
Even CBC News acknowledging the backlog tells you this isn’t some fringe take... it’s an administrative failure.
To me, this isn’t ideological.
It’s operational.
If you invite a million guests, you better have enough chairs.
Right now Canada keeps inviting… and forgetting the chairs.
That’s on Ottawa... not the folks showing up with a suitcase.
How about these sources… even the CBC acknowledges students are not vetted properly or at all. To say nothing of the hordes of “refugees”. There’s no way we can vet millions every year!
“In 2024, CSIS alone received over 538,000 screening requests from immigration and border officials. Years ago, a year-long CSIS check meant in-depth inquiries. Today, with over half-a-million requests annually, it means running names through databases while managers pressure analysts to clear backlogs. Thoroughness gets sacrificed for expediency.”
• https://macdonaldlaurier.ca/fixing-a-broken-system-canadas-immigration-security-screening-adam-hummel-for-inside-policy
• https://nationalpost.com/opinion/opinion-canada-has-lost-control-of-its-immigration-system-and-canadians-know-it
• https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/international-students-security-checks-crime-1.7340434
• https://macdonaldlaurier.ca/canada-must-urgently-fix-flawed-immigration-security-rules-sergio-r-karas-for-inside-policy
OlderMaybeWiser... appreciate you bringing sources.
Two things can be true at the same time...
Screening volume really is huge. Multiple reports cite CSIS receiving 538,000+ security screening requests in 2024.
That doesn’t justify the “hordes” / “millions” framing. When we talk like that, we stop discussing capacity and start scapegoating people.
This is the real point: if Ottawa ramps up intake, it has to properly fund screening, housing, and enforcement... otherwise the system turns into triage and backlogs. That’s a government planning failure, not a personality contest.
Also: the CBC-linked reporting about international students not being required to provide a police certificate is part of this broader “process gap” conversation.
If you want a productive thread, keep it on process + capacity + accountability... not slogans.
I was on a community development corporation CDC in Rural Manitoba looking into housing for 55+ people that wanted to leave bigger homes and go into something smaller but stay in their home community.
We also need housing for the young people early 20s that finished their education and wanted to come back home to live in their communities, but not move back into their parents house. The fact that we have a housing shortage in Canada is a lot on the backs of the government, both provincial and federal .
We had a business person that was ready to invest in this type of housing, but needed grants or partners within the provincial and federal governments to make it financially feasible.
Gail, this is exactly the kind of real-world story politicians never seem to hear… or pretend not to.
Not theory.
Not headlines.
Actual people trying to solve an actual problem.
Small towns don’t need skyscrapers.
They need sensible housing.
A few smaller places for the 55+ crowd to downsize into…
which frees up family homes…
which lets young couples stay…
which keeps the school open…
which keeps the town alive.
It’s basic math.
Instead, we get red tape and twenty layers of “maybe next fiscal year.”
Meanwhile, a local investor ready to write a cheque gets stuck waiting for permission slips.
That’s not a housing shortage.
That’s a bureaucracy surplus.
Stories like yours are happening all over Canada, especially in rural Manitoba.
The solutions are sitting right there in the community…
but government moves like cold molasses in January.
Appreciate you sharing this. It’s exactly the kind of practical, ground-level thinking we need more of.
Yes. The main stream media will have us believe trump is insane while Carney is in bed with China.
I don’t buy the “everyone’s a puppet” stuff.
I judge leaders by what they actually do, not conspiracy headlines.
Right, and Carny has done nothing but enrich his cronies, companies, and himself.
Any benefit to actual Canadians is merely a press release or announcement about “plans” or “commitments” or “frameworks”…and they result it nothing. Except for more taxes, more slush funds, an ZERO RESULTS.
Right, and Carny has done nothing but enrich his cronies, companies, and himself.
Any benefit to actual Canadians is merely a press release or announcement about “plans” or “commitments” or “frameworks”…and they result it nothing. Except for more taxes, more slush funds, an ZERO RESULTS.
Im and immigrant. I received no money to settle here and didnt bring very much with me. I now run a business that provides for my family and 6 employees and give back to our community. There are many stories like mine.
I had to have a criminal background check and given a 2 year work visa. Im now a Canadian Citizen.
Lisa, thank you for sharing that.
Stories like yours are exactly what immigration is supposed to look like... people building lives, creating jobs, contributing to communities, and becoming part of the country.
Canada has always grown through people willing to take that risk and put in the work.
Respect to you for doing it.
Great to hear. You’re one of the good ones!
Sadly, there are hundred of thousands that are NOT like you, and are scammers.
Another bot? The response is full of lies and not based on facts.
Nope... real person, real account.
If you think something I wrote is wrong, quote the sentence and I’ll either source it or correct it.
Blanket “full of lies” isn’t a counter-argument... it’s just static.
Carole... fair question. Here’s one concrete “receipt” example, since screening capacity is what’s being argued about in this thread...
CSIS reported receiving 538,000+ immigration/border security screening requests in 2024 (up from about 493,000 in 2023, and well above the - 300,000/year range in prior years).
If you tell me which specific claim in my post you think is wrong, I’ll pull the matching source (StatsCan / CMHC / IRCC / PBO / AG) and point to the exact line.
Trump is doing nothing good in any direction at all. If he isn't putin's asset he sure acts like he is. He just continues to shoot America in the foot over and over again. When he's done, the US will be forced to take it's place as a much lesser power in the world.
There seems to be a Blindspot in the reporting. The author says immigrants leaving the United States are going north to Canada or to Europe. How about south? Over the past decade, more Mexicans have headed from the United States to Mexico to live then vice versa. Mexico’s economy is larger than Spain’s, now the 14th largest in the world. And Mexico is doing something that the United States is not: Investing in the public good, like infrastructure, transportation, education, heath. Mexico recently decreed that gig workers like Uber drivers are employees, so they can get (public) medical and other benefits. It’s doing what countries that want to build themselves up do. I am a professional who moved to Mexico in 2022 and couldn’t be happier with my decision — especially now in winter, when I’m enjoying shorts weather every day and people living in Canada definitely are not (A lot of them are here on vacation 🙂).
That’s a fair point... Mexico’s trajectory over the past decade has been stronger than many people realize.
Nearshoring, manufacturing growth, and infrastructure investment are changing the economic map in North America.
My focus in this piece was specifically Canada’s position relative to the U.S. and Europe, but you’re right that southbound migration and Mexico’s development story deserve more attention in the broader conversation.
Appreciate you adding that perspective.
It’s another Republican-Trump, REVERSE-REALITY,
“Greatest Economy Ever”.
Just like the first that ended in the worst JOB LOSSES since the Republican- caused, GREAT DEPRESSION of 1932.
Just stay in Trump’s criminal, REVERSE-REALITY, brain and you’ll feel like a MILLION CONFEDERATE BUCKS!