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Are there any economists that support your theory? Namely that (if I understand your point correctly) immigration is hurting the economy more than it’s helping?
by mthoms 4y ago
Are there any economists that support your theory? Namely that (if I understand your point correctly) immigration is hurting the economy more than it’s helping? Everything I’ve seen claims the opposite - but I’m open to new information.
Also, what support do you have for the claim that the existence of temporary foreign workers suppress wages for working Canadians? My understanding is that they are performing jobs that Canadians just won’t do and thus, their presence shouldn’t affect Canadian working wages (or so the theory goes).
- LegitShady 4y agoThey aren't doing jobs canadians wont do, they're doing jobs canadians wont do for the wages being offered. If they raised the wages, people would want to do them. Instead companies hire at very low wages, and very few people want to work for them, they apply to bring in TFW who are desperate. Their presence suppresses the wages because there's a basically unlimited pool of people willing to work for suppressed wages. All businesses have to do is not raise wages and the prevailing wage is whatever they offer. Almost every tim hortons, mcdonalds, burger king, etc in canada is staffed with TFW. I'd rather they raise the wages or go out of business. Instead they import workers and keep wages suppressed.
- mthoms 4y agoWe partially agree here. However the vast majority of TFW’s are farm labourers. This is gruelling, backbreaking work that am not convinced Canadians would do at any (realistic) wage. It’s also highly seasonal so not really a big help if people just go on EI afterwards. Furthermore, with grocery inflation what it is, what do you think would happen if the wages of the pickers doubled or tripled because they were done by Canadians? I’ll tell you what would happen - People would lose their minds. So… it’s complicated (at least in that industry). I’m not as convinced about the need for them in tech and restaurants because, as you say, they should probably just pay more and Canadians would do those jobs. But the numbers I saw don’t seem that significant so I’m not so sure. Unemployment is also at the lowest it’s been in ~50 years so.. where would those new Canadian workers come from anyways? There are no simple answers. That’s why I’d like to see what economists are saying. I know that with regular immigration, there’s a consensus among many economists that we need them so our economy doesn’t actually shrink due to low birth rates.
- sumedh 4y agoWhat is TFW?
- csin 4y agoTemporary Foreign Worker: https://www.canada.ca/en/employment-social-development/programs/temporary-foreign-worker.html https://www.canada.ca/en/employment-social-development/progr...
- diatone 4y agoHere is an Australian site expressing a similar view about the Australian economy. One prominent poster is ex Australian treasury and has been featured on news programs on TV. https://www.macrobusiness.com.au/ https://www.macrobusiness.com.au/