On Tuesday, after several days of evading questions about Canada's 'technical' recession, Prime Minister Mark Carney finally acknowledged the economy is 'bumpy.' However, he attributed the downturn to immigration caps rather than a decade of Liberal mismanagement.
Immigration as a Mask
Carney claimed that reducing immigration targets caused economic weakness. But the opposite is true: without millions of new consumers, Canadians would have noticed the economy's poor performance years ago. Annual inflows of two million permanent residents, foreign students, and temporary workers did not drive growth—they concealed a contraction.
Per Capita Recession
Mass migration has overcrowded schools and hospitals and driven housing prices sky-high. It also hid the fact that Canada has been in a 'per capita recession' since 2022. Gross domestic product per Canadian has fallen every year for four years. Since per capita GDP is a key measure of living standards, the average Canadian's income has fallen behind inflation since the pandemic ended.
If you feel you're falling further behind despite reports of positive growth, it's not your imagination. Immigration creates an illusion of growth while real lifestyles decline.
Policy Failures
The government avoids sensible, pro-growth policies, remaining fixated on emissions caps, tanker bans, industrial carbon taxes, EV mandates, net-zero power grids, and megaproject cancellations. These radical environmental policies have driven away nearly $1 trillion in investments since 2015. As long as immigrant spending papers over economic weaknesses, the government faces no political flak and makes no necessary tax or economic policy changes.
