When it comes to immigration, the federal government holds all the trump cards. They get to make the magnanimous announcements about how this country is built on newcomers. They get to greet folk at the airport with hugs and warm jackets and cute little Canadian flags.
It’s provinces and municipalities that are left scrambling to make the tough decisions.
The federal government announced last month it’s raising immigration targets for the next three years and aims to bring in almost 1.5 million new permanent residents by the end of 2025.
Next year’s target includes 266,210 “economic immigrants.” These are skilled workers who will help fill labour shortages in our economy.
While the feds get the plaudits for an enlightened immigration policy, the provinces are handed smack-downs when they try to accommodate these newcomers.
Any provincial government that dares to build houses where none existed before is slammed as being regressive for taking away farmland.
In Ontario, Premier Doug Ford is being criticized for a recent announcement that the will swap non-productive land in that province’s greenbelt to build housing while putting other land into it. Never mind that the land hasn’t been used for farming in decades, his critics are determined to make, well, hay, out of this plan.
And if an older building is slated to be demolished to make way for housing, the same critics will declare that building a “heritage” site, no matter how ugly or decrepit it is. Not everything old is historic. Every time someone’s favourite golf club is turned into housing, there are cries of anguish.
The people who moan loudest about the lack of affordability in our cities are the first ones to block development of new housing.
Make up your mind, folks. If we need immigration – and no one’s arguing we don’t – then we need new, affordable homes. We already have a housing crunch as a result of flawed policies and inertia by previous governments. Rents and housing costs in this country are among the highest in the world.
Don’t criticize provincial and municipal governments for stepping up and making the difficult decisions. The federal government’s dream of more immigration will be provincial governments’ housing nightmare if they don’t act now.
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