three in five Canadians support decreasing the number of immigrants coming into the country until housing becomes more affordable, according to a new national survey
History repeats itself yet again. Economic problems? Blame immigrants! If Canada had such a high birth rate that we didn’t require immigration to fill the gaps, would three in five Canadians support a ban on having children?
You nailed it. That answer feels so “penny wise, pound foolish”. I’m sure the thinking is, “we have a shortage of supply, so let’s not increase demand,” but this assumes immigrants don’t help on the supply side. If you ever visit a construction site, you’ll find a good portion of the workers are immigrants. Also, I can’t find numbers for it, but given how the immigration scoring system works, I wouldn’t be surprised to find new immigrant funding a lot of residential projects.
That’s before you consider all the other job sectors immigrants help fill, all the other benefits they bring, and the new problems we would create if we limited immigration (as you pointed out).
TBF, I would guess 1/4 to 1/2 of those who “support decreasing the number of immigrants coming into the country until housing becomes more affordable” just don’t want more immigration for . . . other reasons.
Did they only ask about immigration and subsidizing private construction? Nothing about public housing? Talk about trying to shape opinion.