The Liberal government announced plans to increase immigration levels to 500,000 per year beginning in 2025.

Canada’s Immigration Minister Sean Fraser said Tuesday that the increase would foster economic growth. 

“Our plan has a focus on economic growth, and by the third year of this plan, 60% of new immigrants will be admitted under economic immigration categories,” he said.

The government claims it will minimize illegal border crossings and focus on ensuring that those accepted are trained with skills to contribute to the Canadian economy. 

However, some economists argue that immigration places a financial burden on taxpayers. 

In a 2019 oped published in the Financial Post, Herbert Grubel and Patrick Grady argued that “of taxes paid and benefits received, we found that the average recent immigrant in Canada imposes a fiscal burden of $5,300 annually.”

This means 500,000 immigrants would cost taxpayers $2.65 billion annually. 

PPC leader Maxime Bernier said Wednesday the Liberal’s proposal would be detrimental to Canada.

“Half a million immigrants a year is mass immigration, way more than any other country. Mass immigration is not a solution to the labour shortages, but it will worsen the housing and infrastructure crisis and threaten social cohesion,” he wrote on Twitter. 

When Trudeau was elected as prime minister in 2015, the Liberal government announced intentions to increase immigration. Canada subsequently accepted 271,000 new permanent residents, which rose to 286,400 in 2017.

In February, the Liberals announced Canada would welcome 430-451,000 immigrants annually from 2022-2024. 

Earlier this week, Statistics Canada revealed that 23% of people living in Canada are landed immigrants or permanent residents. 

The Counter Signal reported in July that illegal immigration levels in Quebec have nearly broken all records. The RCMP made 16,319 interceptions in Quebec between January and June 2022, with 3,449 interceptions and 3,066 interceptions being made in May and June, respectively.

This is more interceptions in six months than all of 2019, with June and May being the “second- and third-highest months on record, surpassed only by August 2017.”