Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has openly admitted that unchecked mass immigration into his country has been a major factor in the housing crisis and the cost of living but still insists bringing hundreds of thousands of people into the country is a good thing.
Trudeau acknowledged that mass immigration was detrimental to Canada during a 2 Media conference in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia.
The PM acknowledged that his immigration policies have negatively affected Canadians when questioned about the record-high unaffordability in the nation.
“Over the past few years, we’ve seen a massive spike in temporary immigration, whether it’s temporary foreign workers or whether it’s international students in particular that have grown at a rate far beyond what Canada has been able to absorb,” he admitted.
Trudeau continued, “To give an example, in 2017, two percent of Canada’s population was made up of temporary immigrants.”
“Now we’re at 7.5 per cent of our population comprised of temporary immigrants. That’s something we need to get back under control.”
To the backdrop of heckling protestors, Trudeau acknowledged that the immigration crisis must be dealt with but said the adverse effects were due to a spike in “temporary” immigrants, claiming it is “putting pressure on our communities.”
“That’s something that we need to get back under control, both for the benefit of those people because international students we’re seeing increasingly vulnerable to mental health challenges, to not being able to thrive and get the education they want,” he stated.
“But also, increasingly more and more businesses [are] relying on temporary foreign workers in a way that is driving down wages in some sectors,” Trudeau continued.
However, Trudeau still plans to bring in permanent immigrants at a record pace, as his own people face homelessness.
“Every year, we bring in about 450,000, now close to 500,000, permanent residents a year, and that is part of the necessary growth of Canada,” he insisted.
“It benefits our citizens, our communities, it benefits our economy.”
Despite Trudeau’s claims that mass immigration is good for the economy, recent figures show Canada’s GDP per capita growth rate is dismal compared to other countries with low immigration levels.
Even the Bank of Canada admitted that the weakening productivity of the nation’s economy has become “an emergency.”
Canada’s population reached 41 million, just months after hitting the 40 million mark due to massive immigration.
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