Everything You Know About Immigration May Be Wrong

In mid-November, Prime Minister Trudeau released a video titled “Why Canada’s Changing Its Immigration System.” This rare move—featuring the Prime Minister speaking directly to the camera—comes at a pivotal moment for immigration policy. Over the last year and a half, myths about immigration have surged, fueled by political rhetoric and media narratives scapegoating migrants for systemic issues. These misconceptions have taken hold across Canada, mirroring global trends, and have even misled progressives and experts. Meanwhile, the federal government has introduced sweeping immigration changes that will result in 2.3 million permits expiring in the next two years, separating families and leaving temporary permit holders and undocumented individuals even more vulnerable. Now, more than ever, we must separate fact from fiction.

Myth: Migrants Are to Blame for the Housing Crisis

Headlines have been proclaiming that “Immigration is making Canada’s housing more expensive.” It’s a false story that goes like this: Canada’s population growth since the pandemic has accelerated, outpacing housing development, and so, in the interest of newcomers and citizens, we must slow down immigration. 

The housing crisis has long persisted, and migrants are not responsible: While Canada’s population grew by just 3.9% over the last two years, rents exploded by 20%. Housing shortages in Canada stem from systemic underinvestment in affordable housing and speculation-driven real estate markets. Between 1990 and 2016, Canada’s federal spending on housing decreased by over 46% despite significant population growth of over 30%. Meanwhile, corporate landlords have acquired 20% of rental units in major cities, buying up over half a million units of affordable homes in the last decade and making them unaffordable.

Most provinces, which is the level of government responsible for housing, have removed rent controls. Developers have slowed down new home construction because high interest rates mean lower profits. In places like the GTA, there are nearly 18 months of unsold condo supply, i.e. there are too many homes and not enough buyers. These factors have caused the housing crisis. On the other hand, almost all temporary foreign workers live in employer-controlled homes and do not rent; most international students and work permit holders are warehoused in sub-standard homes, often paying 20% more in rent than citizens. Reducing their numbers will not make housing more affordable. Most importantly, the most crucial housing crisis in Canada is in Indigenous communities, and migrants have no role in that. 

Myth: Migrants Take Jobs and Decrease Wages

Many argue that low-wage migrant workers compete for jobs with Canada’s most vulnerable workers, including recent immigrants and refugees. The claim is that employers exploit migrants to avoid raising wages for Canadians and that reducing migration will lead to better pay and more jobs for citizens.

Wages and jobs are controlled by provincial governments and bosses: Consider agricultural work, which is the industry with the largest participation of migrants. Over 60% of agricultural workers are temporary migrants. By law, they are excluded from minimum wage, overtime, breaks, and weekends in most provinces. Migrant farmworkers live in warehouse conditions, and rural communities don’t have schools, healthcare, public transit, or even sewage infrastructure to allow anyone else to take those jobs. Reducing migrants in this sector will not increase jobs or wages for citizens. 

Lack of investments in jobs, re-training, skill matching, international education accreditation, and infrastructure development has resulted in most citizen minimum wage workers staying in the same jobs for life without any prospect for mobility. Immigration has nothing to do with that. Income inequality in Canada today is the highest it’s ever been, and wage stagnation is being implemented through profit-driven corporate practices, artificially low minimum wages, and weak labour protections.

Myth: Migrants are a Drain, and Pausing Immigration Will Allow the Economy to Catch Up

Former Bank of Canada governor Mark Carney, special adviser to the federal Liberal Party, recently said, “We had much higher levels of foreign workers, students and new Canadians coming in than we could absorb, that we have housing for, that we have health care for, that we have social services for, that we have opportunities for. And so we’re letting down the people that we let in, quite frankly.”

But the truth is migrants are holding up Canada. International students alone contribute over $31 billion annually to economic growth, more than Canada’s auto parts or lumber exports, while supporting over 200,000 jobs. Migrants fill critical roles in healthcare, agriculture, and technology, forming the backbone of many sectors. Migrant and undocumented people pay almost all the taxes, contributing to government revenues, employment insurance, and pensions, but are often barred from claiming any benefits. They are underwriting public services.

Canada avoided a recession recently by relying on migrant workers—reducing their numbers will result in an economic contraction. Liberal and Conservative governments have neglected Canada’s manufacturing base and failed to invest in industries that support entrepreneurs, farmers, small businesses, and a green economic recovery. Across the country, industrial towns are in decline, with boarded-up main streets while the elites connected to Trudeau and Pierre Poilievre grow richer. The Conservatives and Liberals have used immigration, particularly temporary migration, to hide their failure at managing the economy. Net immigration contributed to half of Canada’s average GDP growth from 2016 to 2019 and nearly three-quarters of its growth in 2019. It is likely that those numbers are even higher now. What is needed is massive investment in manufacturing, industry and public services, and simply reducing migration will hurt more than uplift the economy. 

This myth flips reality on its head: migrants sustain Canada’s housing, healthcare and social services while receiving little in return.

Understanding This Rhetoric and These Changes in Context

The scapegoating of migrants is part of a global trend. President Trump in the US said his housing plan was to deport one million undocumented people. In Australia, a bill is passing through Parliament to cap international study permits, much like Canada is doing, to “ease housing pressures.” In Poland, Donald Tusk, former EU President and once stalwart supporter of refugees, has banned asylum seekers from entering the country in response to growing anti-immigrant sentiment. 

The myths surrounding immigration serve as convenient scapegoats for systemic failures, from housing crises to economic inequality. At a time of growing wealth inequality, anti-worker politicians and corporations have realized that linking migration to the affordability crisis is an effective strategy, and it’s being implemented around the world. 

The most crucial task right now in Canada is to defend migrant rights because attacks on migrants are serving to distract from all other progressive reforms, be they for climate justice, housing rights, gender justice or more.