Is consensus on immigration fraying?

Immigration Minister Marc Miller says newcomers aren't to blame for rising interest rates or the recent affordability crisis.

- ALTHIA RAJ

Anti-immigration sentiment used to be politically taboo. Election after election, a majority of voters told party leaders they wanted more immigrants, not fewer. That vision of a Canada welcoming newcomers with open arms, however, is increasingly challenged. Unless governments address a growing perception that unbridled migration is making the country worse off, we may be walking towards a darker, more divisive path, one that makes us less wealthy in the long run.

This past week, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre signalled a large reduction in migration numbers will be part of his upcoming platform.

Speaking to reporters in Kitchener, Ont., Poilievre accused Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of ruining the entire immigration system by opening "the floodgates in a way that was disconnected from the number of homes to house people, and the amount of jobs to employ them." He said he'll use a mathematical formula to link population increases to the growth in the supply of housing, so Canada's housing stock outpaces the population something that hasn't happened since the mid-1990s.

Though his office declined to elaborate on his plans, Statistics Canada's numbers and housing forecasts from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation suggest that, without a huge increase in construction, Poilievre could be looking at capping annual migration, including non-permanent residents, to approximately 400,000 a 65 per cent reduction from 2023 figures.

Just a few elections ago, that was unthinkable. During the 2015 campaign, the Liberals and NDP tried to outpromise each other on the number of Syrian refugees each was willing to welcome, while the Conservatives were lambasted for proposing a tip line urging neighbours to report "barbaric cultural practices."

In the years that followed, People's Party of Canada Leader Maxime Bernier remained the only federal leader promising to severely restrict immigration. He is no longer alone.