Documents reveal the Trudeau Government claiming that Canada’s housing affordability situation is aligned with—and requires— their mass immigration plan of 500,000 newcomers per year.
The bewildering claim comes just months after it was revealed a classified memorandum dated June 24, 2022 and addressed directly to Justin Trudeau placed part of the blame for the Canadian housing crisis on the Prime Minister’s mass immigration policy.
The Trudeau Liberals have more than doubled Canada’s annual immigration numbers since the pre-2015 Harper Conservative Government, and aim to pack in 485,000 newcomers in 2024, and another 500,000 in 2025, and 500,000 in 2026.
Despite this, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship (IRCC) stated in a response to an opposing MP’s order paper question that their immigration plan for 2024 – 2026 was a “whole-of-government approach to immigration” and ensures that their targets of half a million per year take into consideration things “such as housing and health care.”
In fact, the Liberals are claiming that continued mass immigration will solve the housing crisis.
“While population growth through immigration increases demand for housing, infrastructure and services, it also contributes to the supply of labour (e.g., construction sector to build new homes, health care occupations),” the document reads.
The IRCC further stated that, in drafting their numbers, they considered public opinion on immigration.
Canadians want less immigration, blame it on housing crisis
However, a recent Leger poll suggests a significant shift in Canadian sentiment towards immigration, with a large majority expressing concerns about its impact on the housing crisis and health-care system.
In December 2023, the Bank of Canada Deputy Governor also linked Canada’s housing crisis with the Trudeau Government’s immigration policy.
On July 31, 2023 Trudeau said he would try to help the housing situation, but added “I’ll be blunt as well — housing isn’t a primary federal responsibility. It’s not something that we have direct carriage of.”
Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre has consistently blamed Prime Minister Trudeau for the housing affordability crisis. However, Poilievre hasn’t stated whether he would increase or decrease immigration numbers, instead saying he’ll do what works best given Canada’s existing housing supply and demographics.
Immigration Minister Marc Miller revealed in January that the feds are setting a cap on undergraduate study permits, and will approve 360,000 student visas in 2024, which represents a 35% decrease from the 2023 figures.
Since then, the Trudeau Liberals have blitzed Canadian cities with billion dollar investment announcements to fix the mess they’ve created after nearly nine years in power.
Meanwhile, the latest Nanos poll shows that just one in five Canadians trust them the Liberals the most over any of the other party when it comes to financial matters.
