Justin Trudeau released a video on his YouTube account Sunday in which he attempts to explain away his immigration policy and blame everyone but himself. Trudeau explains that Canada was in a labour shortage after the pandemic to justify his open border policies. He also blames corporations and lobbying groups for the mess he made.
Crucially at the end of the video, Trudeau admits that high temporary immigration triggered a rise in rental costs for Canadians.
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A planned Remembrance Day-style vigil to honour deceased Hamas leader Yayah Sinwar has been cancelled after the Mayor of Mississauga denied that the organizing group and event in question existed.
Amid a torrent of calls from Canadians and Jewish rights groups for Mayor Carolyn Parrish to prevent and condemn the vigil honouring the “leaders of resistance” involved in the Oct. 7 terrorist attack on Israel, the organization responsible for “Canadian Defenders 4 Human Rights” has announced the event has been cancelled.
— Canadian Defenders 4 Human Rights CD4HR (@cd4_hr) November 17, 2024
This comes after Parrish responded via letter to Jewish advocacy groups such as B’nai Brith Canada’s concerns that the vigil would make Jewish residents unsafe given Hamas’ Oct. 7 terror attack.
In Parrish’s Friday letter, she said the city would allow the vigil for leaders of Hamas, a designated terrorist entity, as doing otherwise would infringe on the group’s Charter-protected rights to free expression.
Rich Robertson, the Director of Research and Advocacy at B’nai Brith Canada, told True North in an interview that “Charter rights are not absolute,” and the first section of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms on “reasonable limitations clause” applies to the vigil in question.
“Limiting individual’s rights to freedom of assembly and freedom of expression to prevent them from promoting and glorifying the leaders and actions of a listed terror group as well within the jurisprudence of the charter,” he said.
Individuals on X also disputed the letter, saying Charter rights end when one openly advocates for terrorism and listed terrorist entities. Others said the letter to the Jewish community was poorly timed as it came during Shabbat.
Section 83 of the Canadian Criminal Code outlines several laws about terrorism and entities listed as such by Public Safety Canada. It bans the wilful participation, propagation of terrorist propaganda, and advocacy of terrorist entities or terrorist activities.
Last week, Parrish also repeated lines used by CD4HR’s director Firas al Najim when he promoted the event to Iranian state media, as she compared Sinwar to Nobel Peace Prize winner Nelson Mandela.
“Your terrorist and somebody else’s terrorist may be two different things,” she said during a City Council meeting.
The Canary Mission, an antisemitism watchdog, reported Najim for his open support for terrorist entities such as Hamas, Hezbollah and the IRGC. Najim was also arrested in 2022 after allegedly driving through an anti-IRGC protest outside of a mosque.
During Parrish’s recent battle with Jewish rights organizations, some X users have uncovered past posts she’s made that shed light on her biased stance. The Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs, a Canadian-Jewish advocacy group, highlighted one post that Parrish made in 2015 where she stated that she would not have discussions with “Zionists.”
“I don’t get into discussions with Zionists,” she said. “Have tried in the past and found it fruitless exercise. Been to Palestine. Know what’s up.”
A May 2024 study by York University found that 91% of Jewish Canadians believe that Israel has a right to exist as a Jewish state. In other words, more than nine in ten Canadian Jews are Zionists.
Robertson questioned whether Parrish’s previous posts indicated her recent actions were just a continuation of Parrish’s “anti-Zionist crusade.”
Despite the vigil for Hamas being cancelled, Mississauga’s anti-Israel scene continues to support Hamas.
“Jihad is our path,” protesters chanted in Arabic on Saturday. “Death in the way of Allah is our best aspiration,” and “Al-Quds, onwards to Jerusalem, martyrs in our millions.”
Calls for Jihad were made in Arabic en mass in Mississauga yesterday following the approval of its Mayor, Carolyn Parrish to hold a vigil for Hamas Yahya Sinwar, despite cancellation.
"Jihad Is Our Path" "Our Purpose Is Allah" "Death In The Way of Allah Is Our Best Aspiration" pic.twitter.com/SDT1yMHq6Q
Robertson said Parrish’s inaction and “lack of a moral compass” has emboldened those who wish to “incite and sow division” within Canadian society.
Another clip from Saturday’s Mississauga protest shows Najim thanking Parrish for her support and repeating the line that Sinwar is a hero akin to Mandela.
Robertson said Parrish continues to compromise the safety and security of the Mississauga Jewish community and foster division amongst community members at a time that he says all Canadian civic leaders need to fight the rise of antisemitism and restore order.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau implied that in the long-term Canadians should prioritize fighting climate change over feeding their families and paying for rent.
The comments were made ahead of the G20 Leaders’ Summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil during a discussion with Michael Sheldrick, co-founder of Global Citizen.
“It’s really easy when you’re in a short-term survive; I’ve got to be able to pay the rent this month, I’ve got to be able to buy groceries for my kids, to say okay: let’s put climate change as a slightly lower priority. And that’s something that’s instinctive,” said Trudeau.
PM Trudeau says the climate change emergency should be prioritized over feeding children and balancing budgets. pic.twitter.com/JWtB8YXZYo
“When the storm comes, you want to hunker down and just sort of huddle up and wait for it to blow over. We can’t do that around climate change.”
Trudeau added that affordability, contrasted with the moral responsibility to protect the planet, has been amplified by propaganda, misinformation, and disinformation, which he said has scared people into prioritizing their household budget and bottom line over the environment.
He added that it’s important in democracies for citizens to want to fight deforestation in Indonesia and floods and famine in sub-Saharan Africa or Asia. Trudeau suggested that Canadians should accept paying more tax dollars and diverting funds towards foreign aid because it “creates jobs” and “benefits citizens.”
A previous study highlighted that the average Canadian spent more on taxes last year than they did on shelter, groceries, and clothing combined.
The prime minister said that his government implemented the strongest and broadest prices on pollution in the world to create jobs, growth, and benefit citizens.
“It’s no longer free to pollute in Canada, and we’ve won three elections on it already,” he said.
Trudeau said the carbon tax is the best tool to fight climate change. Despite having one of the most expensive carbon taxes in the world that is only set to increase, Canada fell to 62nd out of 67 countries on the Climate Change Performance Index.
“In 2019, Canada introduced a carbon price system. In 2023, the price per tonne of CO2 was increased to $65, and at $170/tonne by 2030. However, most of the emissions generated by oil and gas producers are exempted, meaning these companies pay a very low average price for their emissions,” reads the CCPI’s report.
The Prime Minister said that his carbon tax helps the middle class.
He, like his Liberal colleagues often do, said that the carbon tax makes eight out of ten people richer.
The Parliamentary Budget Officer has continuously disproven this. The PBO showed that the average Canadian pays $400 more on carbon levies than they receive in rebates. Also, he said that “Canada’s own emissions are not large enough to materially impact climate change.”
The $400 figure does not include the GST added to the carbon tax, which he estimated will cost taxpayers $400 million this year alone. Trudeau also celebrated the Liberals’ most recent cap on emissions for the oil and gas sector.
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith called the oil and gas cap “a deranged vendetta” specifically targetting Alberta.
Trudeau said that it’s not the carbon tax that is making the price of gas go up, but “oil and gas companies and geopolitics and the illegal invasion of Ukraine that is driving up gas prices around the world.”
He added that his oil and gas cap and carbon tax will create growth and prosperity in the coming years and is encouraging foreign investment right now.
Various organizations have warned the Liberals that the cap will devastate the Canadian economy, reducing the GDP by trillions, and wiping out hundreds of thousands of jobs.
Additionally, Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault recently proposed a new global shipping carbon tax.
Canada has already committed $5 billion to assist developing countries in combating climate change between 2021 and 2026.
Trudeau’s carbon tax has already burdened Canadian households and is projected to cost the economy $30.5 billion annually by 2030, based on government data.
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre’s office has opposed the tax “that will make everything more expensive.” The tax would come at a time when 2 million Canadians are using a food bank each month.
“Canadians discovered that Justin Trudeau’s radical Environment Minister, Steven Guilbeault, wants to create a new global carbon tax on international shipping. This tax money would then be sent abroad to other countries,” reads a statement from the office.
“The carbon tax is nothing more than an expensive scam. It has done nothing to reduce emissions, while dramatically increasing the cost of living on the backs of working Canadians.”
After years of maligning anybody who raised concerns about the Liberal’s mass immigration agenda as racist, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau released a recent video on how immigration has gotten out of control.
In the video released on YouTube, billed as a tell-all on his government’s mistakes and why the Liberals are correcting course, Trudeau blamed labour shortages during the COVID-19 lockdowns and “bad actors” for many of his policies’ shortcomings. Notably, Trudeau did not take personal responsibility for the crisis.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau blames labour shortages during COVID, post-secondary institutions, and "bad actors" for Canada’s immigration system spiralling out of control. pic.twitter.com/hcQq0TGcHj
“In the last two years, our population has grown really fast, like baby boom fast,” he said. “Increasingly bad actors, like fake colleges and big chain corporations, have been exploiting our immigration system for their own interests.”
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre put the onus on Trudeau himself, however.
“Classic Trudeau, he creates a problem, then he says he should have solved it sooner,” Poilievre said on X. “He blames bad actors for immigration problems. No. He is the bad actor.”
Pierre Poilievre calls out PM Trudeau for Canada's immigration crisis: “If the prime minister is hunting for ‘bad actors’ that ruin the system, will he look in the mirror?” pic.twitter.com/CQVmaqFbr2
Trudeau said these bad actors are why his government will reduce the number of permanent and temporary immigrants to Canada in the next three years. He explained that the feds will now set targets for permanent and temporary residents going forward and that immigration will largely be tied to Canada’s economic need, much like Poilievre has advocated for previously.
Trudeau said that after the pandemic, his government needed to ramp up immigration to address labour market shortages.
“After two years with closed borders, we needed more people, more workers, fast. So we brought in more workers,” he said. “It was the right choice.”
Trudeau admitted that after the economy began recovering and businesses no longer required additional labour, his government “could have acted quicker and turned off the taps faster.”
“Now it is time to make the adjustments to stabilize the immigration system that we need and get it working right for Canadians. Right now, immigration is primarily a federal job,” he said. “We have the levers to rein it in, so we are.”
During an interview with Global News, Poilievre said Trudeau couldn’t be trusted to fix the problem caused by increasing Canada’s population by 300% in a matter of years. He noted Trudeau’s admission that these policies caused exploitation, abuse of the system, and shortages of healthcare, housing, and social programs.
Poilievre noted that Canada needs to improve its border security and ensure that newcomers arrive and stay legally.
“This rampant incompetence has caused human misery, both for newcomers and for multi-generational Canadians,” he said. “We have to make it clear that it is not allowed for people to just walk across our borders, and we have to look at legislative changes if necessary to prevent people from abusing our system.”
Sergio Karas, an immigration lawyer, told True North that the Prime Minister’s video was a “poor attempt at political damage control” and that Trudeau is misleading the public.
“While he blames COVID and what he calls “an economy that came roaring back,” the reason for high immigration levels has been the quest for votes by the Liberals,” Karas said. “New immigrants tend to vote Liberal in large numbers.”
“The Prime Minister sees the polls and how unhappy Canadians are with his failed immigration policy,” he said. “He has ruined a system that was not perfect but was manageable, allowing it to become a political tool.”
Karas said Trudeau’s address to Canadians omits that “his vision of Canada” was shaped by the “Century Initiative,” which advocated for Canada’s population to reach one hundred million by the end of the 21st century.
“His immigration policies sought to realize that insanity,” Karas said. “Now he has to cope with the failure of his policies.”
He said the Liberals acted against the advice of their department bureaucrats, who warned about the unsustainable immigration levels, instead hiring more bureaucrats to process the influx of requests.
Karas disputed Trudeau’s claims that large corporations were among the bad actors and that foreign students would simply return home after their studies. He said the record numbers of refugee claims show the lengths that international students will go to stay.
He argued that immigration levels must be cut “far more severely” to fix the housing crisis, as Canada has “never been able to build more than 270,000 housing units a year.”
Alberta continues to set the pace for job creation in Canada, solidifying its position as the country’s economic engine.
The province led the way in job growth between Sept. and Oct. 2024, accounting for over 91% of the country’s net job growth according to the latest labour force data.
Meanwhile, the entire country saw employment grow by only 14,500, from 20,582,400 in Sept. to 20,596,900 in Oct.
Alberta accounted for the vast majority of this growth, rising from 2,529,800 jobs in Sept. to 2,543,000 jobs in Oct., or 91% of the country’s net growth.
“Our business-friendly policies are driving innovation, boosting private sector growth, and increasing weekly earnings to $1,391,” said Alberta Premier Danielle Smith. “Alberta’s labour force is punching above its weight, showing why our province remains the best place to live, work, and invest.”
However, some other provinces saw notable growth as well. For example, British Columbia saw employment rise by 8,300, followed by Quebec, which saw a growth of 6,500.
Canada’s most populous province, Ontario, lost 10,900 jobs between Sept. and Oct. While Ontario’s employment fell, its population rose by 39,300 over the same period. The population data provided by Statistics Canada only accounts for people of working age, 15 years or older.
The entire country saw its working-age population rise by 85,200 people between Sept. and Oct. 2024. Therefore, while the country saw an increase of 14,500 jobs, it saw 70,700 more working-age individuals enter the job market than the number of jobs created. The working population grew at 587.5% of the job growth rate between Sept. and Oct. 2024.
Alberta has previously led the country in gains from interprovincial migration, as Canadians are fleeing expensive cities for greater affordability. The trend of interprovincial migration driven by affordability has seen rent decrease in Canada’s most expensive provinces, while it has increased in the most affordable.
While Alberta’s population grew, it fared much better than the rest of the country. Between Sept. and Oct. 2024, Alberta’s population grew by 14,400. The province’s employment grew by 13,200. Therefore, only 1,200 more working-class people entered the job force than did jobs, or a rate of 109%.
A recent study from the Fraser Institute highlighted that Canada’s employment growth is due primarily to increased jobs in the public sector. Between 2019 and 2023, 46.7% of jobs created were in the public sector. While public-sector employment grew by 13%, private-sector jobs saw an increase of only 3.6%.
However, according to Statistics Canada, public sector employment remained “virtually unchanged in Oct.”
Canada’s unemployment fell in Oct. — the first decrease since Jan.
Average hourly wages grew 4.9% to $35.76 an hour year-over-year in Oct., rising further from the 4.6% annual increase seen in Sept.
Despite the rise in wages, only 61.3% of Canadians reported being very satisfied with their job, a decrease of 0.9% since Oct. 2023. The younger people were, the more likely they were to be dissatisfied.
The Toronto District School Board is requesting nearly $22 million to demolish a Toronto Indigenous school and daycare and reconstruct a new one on the basis that the current structure is too emblematic of an Indigenous residential school.
Plus, the Trudeau government’s Heritage Minister Pascale St-Onge is refusing to say whether or not the CBC’s outgoing CEO Catherine Tait will be receiving an exit payment for her time at the public broadcaster.
And while the Trudeau government begins to curb the number of study permits it issues, the number of international students filing asylum claims is skyrocketing, many of which are suspected to have been filed on fraudulent grounds.
Tune into The Daily Brief with Lindsay Sheperd and Isaac Lamoureux!
Irwin Cotler, Former Minister of Justice & Attorney General of Canada - Source: Facebook
The RCMP has thwarted an Iranian plot to assassinate the former attorney general of Canada and minister of justice, Irwin Cotler.
A source within the RCMP told the Globe and Mail that authorities knew of two suspects in the plot, however, it remains unknown if they were arrested or fled the country.
The source requested anonymity as they were not authorized to discuss national security matters.
Cotler is an outspoken critic of the Iranian regime and a prominent human rights advocate.
The RCMP warned Cotler on Oct. 26. of an imminent assassination plot to be carried out within 48 hours. Cotler has since been notified that his threat status has been significantly lowered.
He has been under constant RCMP protection since the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel.
According to the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, Cotler has been a high-profile target of Iran since 2008, after he launched a global campaign to have the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps listed as a terrorist entity.
Ottawa ultimately did list the IRGC as a terrorist organization in June, along with the United States, while diplomatic ties with the country were severed over a decade ago.
Additionally, Cotler has represented Iranian political prisoners and is a vocal supporter of Israel. He served as Canada’s first special envoy on Holocaust remembrance and combatting antisemitism from 2020 to 2023.
“Today’s revelation of an Iranian government plot to assassinate the Hon. Irwin Cotler here in Canada is a distressing and stark reminder of the urgent challenges we face as a country in combating hate, extremism, and foreign interference,” Canadian Jewish Advocacy group B’nai Brith Canada told True North in a statement.
“This isn’t merely an attack on one individual—it’s an assault on Canada’s democratic values and sovereignty and represents a threat to the safety of all its citizens.”
His strong stance against the IRGC has forced him to routinely travel in bulletproof vehicles and be permanently accompanied by heavily armed officers in addition to other security measures.
According to the source, Cotler was also named in a recent Federal Bureau of Investigation probe involving an Iranian murder-for-hire operation resulting in a foiled assassination attempt on a Sikh separatist living in New York.
That investigation was ultimately linked to the June 2023 killing of Sikh separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Surrey, B.C. and the suspected involvement of the Indian government.
Cotler is a renowned international human rights lawyer who called out the Iranian government for accidentally shooting down Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752 in 2020, killing all 176 on board, including 55 Canadians and 30 permanent residents.
He has also criticized the IRGC’s funding of Hamas, a group that has been a designated terrorist entity in Canada since 2002.
He founded the Raoul Wallenberg Centre for Human Rights in 2015, a Montreal-based organization dedicated to championing human rights, advocating on behalf of political prisoners
Wallenberg was a Swedish diplomat responsible for saving around 100,000 Jews during the Second World War by granting them diplomatic passports and providing safe houses.
According to Cotler, authoritarian regimes have been waging a war against Western nations such as the United States, Canada, Australia and as well as many in Europe “through three primary methods – electoral interference, transnational repression, and the spreading of harmful disinformation.”
The 2024 U.S. elections, where Donald Trump secured a dramatic return to the presidency, signal a shift in public opinion that extends beyond the U.S. Trump’s victory, driven by a rejection of progressive ideologies and woke culture, reflects a broader cultural reckoning that threatens Canada’s political landscape. For Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, this backlash could mark the end of his leadership.
Trump’s rise stemmed from widespread discontent among Americans who felt alienated by what they saw as an overreaching progressive agenda. His success underscores a resistance to policies that prioritize virtue signaling over practical solutions. This sentiment has resonated in Canada, where similar concerns are reshaping the political debate. Critics argue that Trudeau’s progressive policies have alienated moderate voters, once key to the Liberal Party’s base. Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre has capitalized on this discontent, focusing on issues like the federal carbon tax, which he portrays as government overreach. His “Axe the Tax” campaign positions him as an advocate for affordability and common-sense governance, appealing to Canadians frustrated with Trudeau’s perceived elitism.
Though Trudeau is praised by progressives for his focus on social justice, many contend that his policies lack tangible results, often sidelining urgent economic issues. Initiatives such as gender-inclusive language and high-profile Indigenous reconciliation efforts have received praise, but critics argue that they ignore inflation, housing affordability, and public safety. A 2024 Angus Reid survey found that 58% of Canadians believe Trudeau’s government is “out of touch” with their priorities. This frustration has been fueled by recent demonstrations, where protestors from radical left-wing groups have been seen chanting slogans like “Death to Israel” and “Death to Canada.” These inflammatory statements, widely covered by alternative media, raise alarms about the growing extremism within progressive activism and highlight the cultural divide that is shaping the national conversation.
The rejection of progressive ideologies in Canada mirrors trends in the U.S. Movements centered around identity politics and intersectionality are increasingly viewed as divisive. Even traditional Liberal supporters—working-class families, new immigrants, and some Indigenous communities—are expressing frustration with Trudeau’s focus on ideological purity over practical governance.
Trump’s victory serves as a cautionary tale for Trudeau. It was not just a reaction to economic struggles but also a cultural rejection of progressive overreach. Canadians, like Americans, are growing weary of policies and rhetoric they see as detached from their everyday concerns. Poilievre’s rising popularity reflects this shift, as he positions himself as an alternative to Trudeau’s perceived elitism. He advocates for affordability and opposes woke culture, promising a government that listens to ordinary Canadians and offers pragmatic solutions grounded in shared values.
As Canada prepares for its next federal election, voters face a critical choice. Will they continue down a path defined by progressive ideals, which increasingly seem out of step with the reality of most Canadians, or embrace a new direction focused on practical governance and national unity? The growing backlash against the progressive left suggests that Canada may follow the U.S. example and reject ideologies perceived as out of touch with the majority of the population. This cultural shift could reshape Canadian politics and determine the next government in Ottawa.
Dr. Dotan Rousso was born and raised in Israel. He holds a Ph.D. in Law and is a former criminal prosecutor in Israel. He lives in Alberta and teaches Philosophy at the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology (SAIT).
While Canadians are feeling the effects of the cost of living crisis and desperate for any type of tax relief, the federal government is spending an unprecedented amount on renting artwork to adorn the offices of bureaucrats – significantly more than the average salary of Canadians.
Access-to-information records obtained by the Canadian Taxpayers Federation revealed that federal departments and agencies racked up a bill of $7,808,827 in art rentals from Jan. 2016 to July of this year.
That figure amounts to the government spending an average of $76,000 per month on art rentals since Prime Minister Justin Trudeau took office.
Records show that federal departments and agencies rented a total of 1,445 artworks from the Art Bank over that period.
The government first purchases artwork from the Canada Council for the Arts’ Art Bank for bureaucrats to then rent out for decoration, adding up to millions and all on the taxpayers’ dime.
“Can someone in government explain why taxpayers are being sent a bill so bureaucrats can decorate their offices with artwork that taxpayers have already bought and paid for?” asked CTF federal director Franco Terrazzano.
“This is an outrageous waste of money and, to add insult to injury, the government is double billing taxpayers for artwork we’ll never see.”
According to Statistics Canada, the average Canadian made less than $70,000 last year, not even enough to cover a single month’s rental fees in government artwork.
Additionally, Food Banks Canada reported that it received over 2 million visits in the month of March, a new record high.
“Every month, federal bureaucrats spend more money renting art than what the average Canadian earns in an entire year,” said Terrazzano. “It’s amazing that we need to say this, but maybe these bureaucrats could ease up at the taxpayer-funded Art Bank when record numbers of Canadians are lined up at food banks.”
The single highest rental since 2016 came in April 20202, when a federal department or agency billed taxpayers for a $120,240 rental.
However, the records do not specify which departments or agencies expensed what artworks.
The Art Bank is home to over 17,000 artworks and by more than 3,000 artists, according to the CCA website.
“The Art Bank has the largest collection of contemporary Canadian art anywhere,” reads the website. “It houses paintings, sculptures, drawings, photographs and prints by emerging and established artists.”
It’s a Crown corporation and is responsible for issuing hundreds of millions in grants to artists and arts organizations annually.
The CCA granted more than $300 million in 2023-24 and in 2023-23, the agency received $423 million in federal funding.
Government funding accounts for roughly 90% of the CAA’s total revenue, meaning taxpayers not only bear the cost of artwork rentals through parliamentary appropriations but are also billed again when that same artwork is later rented by a federal department or agency.
The Trudeau government pledged to find savings within Crown corporations in Budget 2023, however, the latest figures represent a stark contradiction to such promises.
“The government will also work with federal Crown corporations to ensure they achieve comparable spending reductions, which would account for an estimated $1.3 billion over four years,” reads Budget 2023.
The CTF is now nominating the Canada Council for the Arts as a ripe candidate for defunding, should the government be sincere about saving money within Crown corporations, calling it the “perfect place to start.”
“Bureaucrats billing taxpayers $76,000 a month in art rentals is outrageous at the best of times, but with the government more than $1 trillion in debt and so many Canadians struggling, it’s utterly inexcusable,” said Terrazzano.
The Liberals’ recent about-face on immigration levels will cut Canada’s housing gap almost in half by 2030.
According to a report from the Parliamentary Budget Officer published Friday, the Liberals’ 2025-2027 Immigration Levels Plan will reduce the housing gap by 534,000 units, or 45%.
Based on the new reduced immigration levels, the housing gap is estimated to be 658,000 units by 2030 instead of the initially projected 1.2 million units.
The report projected an estimated 1.7 million net housing completions by 2030. Closing the housing gap would require 2.3 million housing completions by 2030, averaging 390,000 completions per year between 2025 and 2030.
“We judge that there is significant risk to the demographic projection presented in the Government’s new immigration plan—particularly to the projected outflow of non-permanent residents,” reads the report. “Our estimated reductions in household formation and the housing gap are uncertain and likely represent upper-bound estimates.”
The Liberals previously announced that they would reduce immigration levels by 135,000 over two years.
The levels plan to reduce Canada’s population by 0.2% over the next two years before returning to a population growth of 0.8%. The number of permanent residents will be reduced from 500,000 to 395,000 next year and then 380,000 in 2026 before reaching the target of 365,000 by 2027.
Immigration accounted for 98% of Canada’s population growth last year; however, 60% of immigrants were temporary residents.
The PBO report highlighted that Canada’s population grew by 1.1 million and 1.2 million in 2023 and 2024, a growth rate of 2.9% and 3.0%, respectively.
Both 2023 and 2024 saw net increases in non-permanent residents of over 700,000. 2025 and 2026 project declines of over 445,000 non-permanent residents.
The report estimates that between 2025 and 2030, housing stock will increase by 280,000 units annually. Therefore, 110,000 additional units need to be built annually to reach 390,000 a year and close the housing gap by 2030.
Without the new immigration plan, 199,000 additional units would need to be built annually.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau previously promised to build 4 million new homes by 2031, or more than 576,786 houses per year — more than double what is actually projected to be built.
Between 2015 and 2024, Canadian housing starts were anywhere from 180,926 to 258,000 per year, averaging 210,589 built per year, according to the PBO report.
Between 2022 and 2023, housing starts fell by over 12,486 units. However, between 2023 and 2024, housing starts are projected to rise by 16,248 units.
Based on the current average, the Liberals won’t even accomplish their initial goal of the 1.87 million homes expected to be built by 2031, let alone the 4 million new homes promised by Trudeau.
Housing affordability reached an all-time low in Apr. 2024. The average household in Vancouver had to spend 106.3% of its income to cover homeownership costs.
Some of the country’s other most expensive cities, like Victoria and Toronto, featured households having to allot 80.2% and 84.8% of their incomes towards mortgages, respectively.
