Increasing housing shortage raises doubts about Canada's immigration strategy

An unauthorised border crossing south of Montreal has recently seen an increase in asylum seekers coming from the US into Canada's second-most populous province. While Canada's open immigration policy exacerbates a housing scarcity, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is under pressure to tighten border controls. Francois Legault, the premier of Quebec expressed his concern suggesting it was time the Prime Minister revaluated his immigration policy.

According to Legault, public services cannot accommodate all the influx as the city already suffers problems with housing, enrolment in schools and shortage of hospital staff. In an interview captured by Realty+ Magazine, Legault stated, "It's time for Trudeau to issue a new tweet warning not to come.”

The Canadian government aims to welcome 465,000 new permanent residents this year and expand the annual target to 500,000 by 2025 due to a labour deficit and an ageing population. Foreign students and other non-permanent residents are adding to the population growth. Rents in the nation's largest cities are increasing because of the population increase, which is the fastest among Group of Seven countries. Even though the government has promised to double the rate of housing development, there is a huge gap between demand and availability. With the vacancy rate in rental buildings at around 2%, the lowest since 2001, apartments are incredibly difficult to find.

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Increasing housing shortage raises doubts about Canada's immigration strategy

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