Canada is witnessing its highest population growth on record, thanks to extraordinary levels of net overseas migration (NOM).
In the year to March 2023, Canada’s population increased by a little over 1.2 million people, with NOM accounting for nearly all (98%) of that increase:
The following chart, which compares Canada’s population growth rate to that of the United States, captures the magnitude of Canada’s population expansion (immigration):
The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) has published an article explaining how Canada’s record levels of immigration is causing acute infrastructure and housing pains.
“In the next two years, Canadian officials say they will boost the number of permanent newcomers by almost a third”, the WSJ writes.
“The intake of newcomers is increasing so rapidly that analysts and newly arrived immigrants say it is adding fuel to an overheated housing market, straining a stressed healthcare system and clogging up roads in cities unaccustomed to traffic jams.
“The country’s housing prices remain among the highest in the world. Residential construction can’t keep up with population growth.
““This is what happens when our government decides to triple the rate at which our population is growing without giving any thought to where everyone will live”, said John Pasalis, president of Toronto real-estate brokerage Realosophy Realty.
“TD Bank economists, in a report last month, forecast that based on current demographic trends, the shortfall in housing units that are needed to keep up with projected demand could roughly double to a half-million units within just two years”.
Meanwhile, a popular backlash is brewing among Canadians.
Polling released last month from Ottawa-based Abacus Data showed 61% of citizens believe the government’s immigration plans are too ambitious because of the negative impacts on housing and healthcare.
Data from the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development also showed that Canada has one of the lowest per-capita hospital-bed capacity among rich-world nations.
“Anytime that you increase the population, especially in this environment of strained health resources, it’s going to have an effect”, said Dr. Alika Lafontaine, president of the Canadian Medical Association.
To add insult to injury, Canada’s gross domestic product (GDP) per capita — widely used by economists to measure a country’s standard of living — has declined amid the immigration boom.
“Canada’s per-capita output is on track to fall 1.7% in the second quarter from a year ago, and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development predicts Canada’s GDP-per-capita growth could be one of the lowest among developed-world economies over the next four decades”, the WSJ notes.
“”Canada’s aggressive immigration “camouflaged the real underlying problem in this country, which is a lack of business investment and productivity,” said David Rosenberg, former chief North American economist at Merrill Lynch and now head of Rosenberg Research”.
“This is showing up in everything from stressed public-transportation, roads, healthcare and housing, he said”.
Canada’s massive immigration has also driving Canada’s unemployment rate higher:
Canada’s population growth is now double its jobs growth, resulting in more unemployed Canadians.
The above story will be familiar to Australians who are grappling with similar issues from its own record immigration:
Like Canada, Australia is experiencing record population growth while actual housing construction rates are falling:
This has created severe housing shortages, rising rents and growing homelessness.
Australia’s economy is also expected to experience a multi-year per capita recession.
Soon, Australia’s labour market will experience a similar jump in unemployment as the rapid expansion in labour supply (via record immigration) outnumbers job creation.
Why do centre-left governments like the Albanese and Trudeau administrations hate the working class so much that they actively deprive them of housing and jobs?
