Trudeau's nemesis: Canada's experiment with more legal immigration

More foreigners, no matter how legal, have meant lower wages, higher rents, and longer commutes. And soon it will mean a different Prime Minister.

Canada has been speed-running an experiment in increased legal immigration and legal temporary residents that Americans should pay careful attention to. From @Fentasyl:

How is it working out for Canada and for Canada’s long-time prime minister Justin Trudeau?

From the Economic Times via MSN:

2024: The year Justin Trudeau closed Canada's doors and began turning away foreigners

Story by Ankita Sen • 1w • 3 min read

In a marked shift from its reputation as one of the most immigrant-friendly nations, Canada under Prime Minister Justin Trudeau took significant steps to limit immigration in 2024. Faced with domestic challenges including an acute housing crisis and growing public dissatisfaction over strained infrastructure, the Canadian government moved to curtail immigration and foreign student intake.

These measures represented a stark departure from Canada’s historically open-door policies, sparking widespread debate both within and outside the country.

The Trudeau government announced a major reduction in its immigration targets for permanent residents, dropping the annual goal from 500,000 to 365,000 by 2027. Immigration Minister Marc Miller emphasized the need to balance economic growth with sustainable population growth, saying, “This shows that we are listening to Canadians. It shows that we have a controlled immigration plan that we can be proud of.”

This change hoped to address mounting public concerns about the housing crisis, particularly in urban centers such as Toronto and Vancouver. With housing affordability at an all-time low, public pressure to reduce population growth from immigration became a key driver of the policy change.

In addition to cutting permanent residency targets, the government introduced a two-year cap on the issuance of international student permits. This policy sought to address the disproportionately large strain placed on housing markets by the rapid influx of international students.

Between 2016 and 2024, Canada experienced an explosion in international student numbers, which surged from approximately 350,000 to over 900,000. …

Another big measure announced was the reassessment of Canada’s temporary foreign worker program. While these workers have been critical to filling labor shortages in agriculture, hospitality, and construction, the program faced scrutiny for its perceived impact on wage suppression and job opportunities for Canadian citizens….

For decades, Canada has been seen as a beacon of openness, particularly at a time when many Western countries tightened immigration controls. Trudeau’s new policies in 2024 mark a significant shift in that narrative.

… Increased crossings by asylum seekers into Canada from the US added urgency to Ottawa’s efforts to control its borders and address public concerns….

Canada's business leaders have warned that curbing immigration could hinder the country’s ability to compete in the global economy. Universities and colleges expressed concerns over revenue losses due to the international student cap.

And from the New York Times:

From Liberal Icon to MAGA Joke: The Waning Fortunes of Justin Trudeau

Canada’s prime minister gained global renown 10 years ago for his unabashedly progressive politics. But at home, voters turned sour on him long ago.

By Matina Stevis-Gridneff

Reporting from Toronto

Published Dec. 21, 2024

Justin Trudeau’s career is the stuff of 21st-century political drama, with an arc that has taken him from glamorous liberal standard-bearer to the butt of jokes by President-elect Donald J. Trump and his acolytes.

He burst onto the international scene in 2015, a newly elected young leader of Canada whose father had also once been a popular prime minister. …

Today, Mr. Trudeau finds himself — like other Western leaders — facing an angry constituency and losing control.

He will soon either call elections that he’ll most likely lose, or he’ll step down as leader of his party and as prime minister, and let a different leader take the Liberals to the ballot box next year. …

When deciding where to start telling Mr. Trudeau’s political story, chroniclers have several choices.

There’s a 2012 charity boxing match, that he, then a young member of Parliament, won against a tough Conservative who had a black belt in karate; people still bring up the fight.

A lot of chuds assume that Trudeau’s pretty boy looks means he’s can’t be masculine. (Similarly, millions were amazed recently that actor Timothée Chalamet turns out to be an ardent, well-informed college football fan.) But in a fistfight-centric Canadian culture, he launched himself toward reclaiming his father’s throne in a charity boxing match in 2012:

… As the United States switched from the Obama to the Trump presidencies in 2016, Mr. Trudeau seemed to offer continuity with Mr. Obama’s politics. Few moments exemplified this more than Mr. Trudeau’s decision to offer refugees an open welcome in 2017, as Mr. Trump cracked down on immigrants. …

Canadians found themselves battered by persistent inflation, setting off an affordability crisis, while an open migration policy to bring in workers backfired, turning one of the world’s most immigrant-friendly societies against newcomers. …

With elections required by October because of Canada’s electoral rules, Mr. Trudeau’s departure is increasingly seen as a foregone conclusion. The question is where this leaves his Liberal Party. The latest Ipsos poll, published Friday, found that the Liberals trail the Conservatives by 25 percentage points.

On Monday, his deputy prime minister and finance minister, Chrystia Freeland, resigned with a bombshell letter, accusing him of engaging in “costly political gimmicks” and being ill-prepared to face the challenge posed by Mr. Trump.

Then on Friday, the opposition party that has propped up his Liberal minority said it would bring a no-confidence vote against it after Parliament resumes in January.