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It's going to get a lot less welcoming in the coming years. Unemployment is trending upwards, there's not really any up and coming industries to replace jobs l

by Mikeb85 10y ago

It's going to get a lot less welcoming in the coming years. Unemployment is trending upwards, there's not really any up and coming industries to replace jobs lost in resources (all commodities but especially oil are down), and the demographic shift (immigration) is driving down wages. We got a taste of it when Harper campaigned on anti-terrorist paranoia, but most people just thought he was a clown. When large swaths of Canadians are out of jobs, the anti-immigrant sentiment will come to the fore. Here in Alberta it's already pretty bad - unemployment is at levels we haven't seen in decades, yet a steady stream of TFWs are still somehow getting hired, and there's no reprieve in sight.

tempestn 10y ago
Unfortunately you're probably right. Of course, as most people here understand, the economy isn't a zero sum game, so we should be welcoming skilled immigrants and thanking them for adding to our prosperity, not complaining about them buying homes or taking jobs. (Think instead of the taxes they're paying, or the jobs they're creating, directly or indirectly.) As far as the "making homes more unaffordable" point, I could see the case for absentee foreign buyers who leave the properties empty. It's still not the real problem, but I can understand the frustration, and support initiatives like a tax on vacant property. That's a big difference from someone immigrating to the country and buying a home though! And anyway, what really makes homes unaffordable is lack of sufficient density. Sure, there's a peak where there is simply no more space, but cities like Vancouver are nowhere near it.
- Mikeb85 10y ago
  Immigration generally increases unemployment in the short term, and is only a job creator in the long term. The question: can Canada absorb enough new immigrants to reach the point where they add to our prosperity before the social and economic issues become too much for us to bear?
sdenton4 10y ago
The US got a huge boost in sci and tech in the forties by bringing in fleeing scientists from across Europe. If Trump guts the h1b program as he's promised to, carries in with the Muslim registration lists, and continues to escalate xenophobia, we'll see a huge outflow of scientists from the US. Canada seems pretty well positioned to pick up a good number of them.
- Mikeb85 10y ago
  And what will they do? Honestly, the real reason the US has such a robust economy is that they invest in companies at home. There's far less venture capital dollars here, most wealthy Canadians park their money offshore, and have zero risk tolerance. This means no engineering and science start-ups. Even the one industry where start ups are a thing here, tech, there's hardly any money floating around. You might get funded in Vancouver, but there's half a dozen markets in the US where you'll have an easier time.

by Mikeb85 10y ago

tempestn 10y ago

Unfortunately you're probably right. Of course, as most people here understand, the economy isn't a zero sum game, so we should be welcoming skilled immigrants and thanking them for adding to our prosperity, not complaining about them buying homes or taking jobs. (Think instead of the taxes they're paying, or the jobs they're creating, directly or indirectly.) As far as the "making homes more unaffordable" point, I could see the case for absentee foreign buyers who leave the properties empty. It's still not the real problem, but I can understand the frustration, and support initiatives like a tax on vacant property. That's a big difference from someone immigrating to the country and buying a home though! And anyway, what really makes homes unaffordable is lack of sufficient density. Sure, there's a peak where there is simply no more space, but cities like Vancouver are nowhere near it.

Mikeb85 10y ago
Immigration generally increases unemployment in the short term, and is only a job creator in the long term. The question: can Canada absorb enough new immigrants to reach the point where they add to our prosperity before the social and economic issues become too much for us to bear?

sdenton4 10y ago

The US got a huge boost in sci and tech in the forties by bringing in fleeing scientists from across Europe. If Trump guts the h1b program as he's promised to, carries in with the Muslim registration lists, and continues to escalate xenophobia, we'll see a huge outflow of scientists from the US. Canada seems pretty well positioned to pick up a good number of them.

Mikeb85 10y ago
And what will they do? Honestly, the real reason the US has such a robust economy is that they invest in companies at home. There's far less venture capital dollars here, most wealthy Canadians park their money offshore, and have zero risk tolerance. This means no engineering and science start-ups. Even the one industry where start ups are a thing here, tech, there's hardly any money floating around. You might get funded in Vancouver, but there's half a dozen markets in the US where you'll have an easier time.