this post was submitted on 05 Jan 2024
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[–] kbal@fedia.io 27 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Lately it is beginning to appear that among the many problems caused by this alarmingly rapid population growth is that it fuels anti-immigrant sentiment. We'll be paying the price for decades to come.

[–] NeonKnight52@lemmy.ca 19 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (1 children)

This is a really important point. I've already seen this when talking with people. And it's also really hard to differentiate the "immigration is good in moderation" sentiment from the "immigrants are ruining the country" sentiment.

Because in the proper numbers, immigration keeps our country alive by filling in gaps and growing the economy. But if the numbers are too high, we have more competition for work and housing and all our other economic resources.

I think nowadays the narrative is seems to be "immigration is always good and if you say otherwise you're a bigot". But we should certainly make sure we are intentional about how many people we bring in because we want our country to be the best it can be for everyone in it and everyone entering it.

[–] joshhsoj1902@lemmy.ca 7 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago)

What drives me crazy is that the population growth we're seeing now isn't even all that crazy.

It's a bit higher right now, but it's not a significant outlier when plotted on a graph going back 50 years.

Yes over the last 20 years immigration has been consuming a larger portion of that fairly consistent pie, but assuming we didn't stop having kids 20 years ago we would be in a similar spot as we are today.

The real problem is that we stopped building housing. The rate of houses being built slowed down a few decades ago, and that was always going to be cause us problems, regardless of if we had stopped immigration, but had we done that, our population stagnating would have caused us other problems.

[–] Blackout@kbin.social 15 points 10 months ago

I'm guessing within 100 miles of the US border

[–] CanadianCorhen@lemmy.ca 11 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Honest question: Is it growing the most by an absolute number, or by percentage?

[–] ImplyingImplications@lemmy.ca 10 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Looks like absolute number to me. Searching for "canada historical population growth" shows sites like Statista and Macrotrends which show 1% increases pretty much every year. StatsCan seems to only show one year at a time.

[–] pbjamm@beehaw.org 4 points 10 months ago (1 children)

That is far less dramatic and would not get enough clicks.

[–] CanadianCorhen@lemmy.ca 1 points 10 months ago

That's kind of what i expected.

As our population growth, we should expect absolute highs ever year, even if the relative numbers may fluctuate.

[–] Frederic@beehaw.org 10 points 10 months ago (2 children)

500'000 to 1 million immigrants per year is not sustainable especially since there is no housing

[–] Showroom7561@lemmy.ca 4 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Maybe it's just me, but you'd think that anyone moving to another country would try to secure housing BEFORE making the move? Heck, I'll double and triple check hotel accommodations when I'm visiting a new place, let alone assume there will magically be tons of housing to choose from.

This situation is bad for everyone.

[–] crazyminner@lemmy.ml 8 points 10 months ago (1 children)

A big part out our immigration system is post secondary schools. Students will come to get a diploma and fit into apartments with multiple people to a room. After they are done they now have to find a new place and there aren't enough. Our government should be building so much more housing.

[–] Showroom7561@lemmy.ca 0 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Our government should be building so much more housing.

I think the problem is that you can never build enough.

Having a surplus would be bad, but having "enough" today would only mean "not enough" tomorrow because it would increase the demand for housing.

How do you even catch up? Where I live, apparently the fastest growing city in Canada (or Ontario), new developments are everywhere - at alarmingly fast rates, and massive amounts of land are being swallowed up by new housing, apartments, condos, etc. Our infrastructure can't keep up, and our tax rates have gone through the roof.

Building more puts hardships on existing residents, especially with the way the Ford government set things up to accelerate development.

It's a tough problem to solve, and I don't think you can make everyone happy. Maybe we need to start converting old malls and commercial buildings to residential property. Other cities are already doing this.

[–] OutlierBlue@lemmy.ca 4 points 10 months ago (2 children)

fastest growing city in Canada (or Ontario)

Hello fellow Londoner.

[–] Showroom7561@lemmy.ca 2 points 10 months ago

Oof. London is growing fast, too. Probably faster than Oshawa. 😡

[–] pbjamm@beehaw.org 2 points 10 months ago (1 children)
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[–] jerkface@lemmy.ca 3 points 10 months ago

Humanity is not sustainable. Enjoy the ride.

[–] tacosanonymous@lemm.ee 9 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Capitalists hate affordable housing so much…

[–] BedSharkPal@lemmy.ca 9 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (1 children)

I get that we literally need immigration to support the ponzi scheme of social benefits. But maybe knowing that should have pushed literally anyone to take housing seriously for the last 10+ years?

The writing has been on the wall for over a decade. I'm constantly amazed at how short sighted every level of government was on this. You'd think that at least NOW we would be taking this seriously, but no. Instead we are simply drilling new holes on an already sinking ship.

At least other countries are trying to make things better.

[–] Kecessa@sh.itjust.works 3 points 10 months ago

Why would the more progressive government work for the long term if the electors will vote for the party that will undo everything after two mandates no matter what? The electors get the country they vote for.

[–] corsicanguppy@lemmy.ca 5 points 10 months ago

In other news the rate of accumulation for anything compounded tends to increase.

Did we not study geometric progression in school?

Give me percentages or GTFO. The rest is all just "population increases, hyuk."

[–] theacharnian@lemmy.ca 2 points 10 months ago

Related issue: Canada has ridiculous barriers to recognizing the credentials of foreign-trained health professionals. So we are increasing the demand for healthcare without increasing the supply. There is zero reason a more open approach, such as in the UK for instance could not be taken.

[–] xc2215x@lemmy.world 2 points 10 months ago

Great question. Not enough housing right now.

[–] corsicanguppy@lemmy.ca 1 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Let me answer your question with a question: are we still hoarding greenspace as personal lawns, and have we begun taxing that wasted hoarded space?

If not, then it'll be Yellowknife.

[–] SheerDumbLuck@lemmy.ca 1 points 10 months ago

Yellowknife has had a housing crisis for decades. Bad choice.