DEMANDS

Responsible Immigration Policy

Context:

Per StatCan, in 2023, Canada had a record 1.2 million newcomers, while only started constructing 240k housing units. Rent reached a record high, affordability a record low.

IRCC warned in 2022, “In Canada, population growth has exceeded the growth in available housing units” and “rapid increases put pressure on health care and affordable housing”.

In 2014, then MP Trudeau criticized the temporary foreign worker (TFW) program, “It is bad for our economy in that it depresses wages for all Canadians”. Today, under PM Trudeau, TFWs doubled, international students have become TFWs, while wages are stagnant and real GDP-per-capita is back to 2011.

On June 18, 2024, CTV News shared a report that shows that 25% (that is, 1 out of every 4 people) of Canadians are living at poverty level. Every major city is reporting record levels of unemployment with 100+ people job line ups observed on a weekly basis and food banks have reached crisis mode. As of June 2024, unemployment in Toronto, Canada’s economic hub, reached 317,000 people, more than all of Quebec.

The Liberal government’s “housing accelerator” hopes to complete 750,000 homes in 10 years. Yet, if their immigration policy keeps pace, Canada will add 12 million newcomers in that period. RCMP reports, “Many Canadians under 35 are unlikely ever to be able to buy a place to live”. Despite Millennials and GenZ being the most educated generation in history, it is saddening to see that this working class generation is either paying most of their income to high rent, living in their parents’ basement, or forced to live in poor and unsafe living conditions.

We have the biggest housing bubble and greatest amount of mortgage defaults in the G7 and depressed wages have created a crisis in Canada where the quality-of-life has declined year-after-year.

Policy changes we demand:

We demand responsible immigration policy which prioritizes and maintains a decent standard of living for all Canadians. A decent standard of living is achieved when average Canadian rent 1 bedroom apartments are equal to no more than 33% of the average Canadian wage. We demand the government limit immigration to a maximum cap of 1% of the population across all immigration pathways including temporary and student residents.
Better auditing system of students visa, tourist visa, and temporary foreign workers that actually prioritizes economic sectors in real need for high-skill labour..
There are many immigrants who have come over to Canada on a tourist visa, and have extended their stay by working illegally under the table. Strict punishments need to be enforced against these businesses who undermine Canadian workers.
Greatly increase the financial requirements for international students. The current $20,000 requirement to demonstrate self-sufficiency is nowhere near realistic. This number needs to be updated to match current food and rental costs. International students should not need to work while in Canada.
While we would like immigrants to be reunited with their families, we currently do not have the capacity to intake more people. It doesn’t make sense to bring in elderly grandparents who have not contributed to the Canadian tax system and be a burden on Canadian taxpayers who are also dealing with a healthcare crisis.
Federal government needs to meet with every provincial government every 2 months and get the approval from the provincial government on immigration targets. Every provincial premier is frustrated with the unsustainable immigration target the government has set. Housing and employment needs fall under the municipal jurisdiction and therefore, the Federal government must get the approval of municipal and provincial jurisdictions on what is deemed appropriate immigration targets.
One of the Liberal’s goals is to make Canada one of the greenest and environmentally forward countries in the world, yet the unsustainable rate of immigration does the exact opposite. This is leading us to build more houses without proper planning, resulting in urban sprawl, and a result, a more car centric environment which ultimately leads to more pollution and greater unproductivity.
Reserve LMIAs exclusively for skilled work, ie. work that requires university degrees or years of experience. Any government subsidies for these positions should be removed. The incentive should be on the employer to hire or train skilled workers in Canada.

Housing for People

Context:

Almost all Canadian cities are considered to be unaffordable currently, with house prices having grown disproportionately to the rate of wage growth. Even cities that were once deemed affordable, such as Halifax and Calgary, are now seeing a housing crisis. According to the OECD, Canada is second to New Zealand in the list of the world’s largest housing bubbles.

In January 2023, the government announced that non-Canadians would be banned from buying homes across Canada through the Prohibition on the Purchase of Residential Property by Non-Canadians Act. The Act prohibits non-citizens and non-permanent residents from purchasing residential property in Canada for two years. However, the Act included a number of exceptions, including foreign workers and international students who plan to become permanent residents. As of March 2023, two months after the initial ban, then Housing Minister Ahmed Hussen, revoked some of the restrictions on foreigners purchasing residential property by allowing non-Canadians and foreign businesses to purchase residential property if they intend to develop it, and can purchase vacant land zoned for resident or mixed use for any purpose.

Demands:

Housing is a basic need first and all Canadians should be sheltered before housing is sought as an investment. The ask is simple, we demand corporations and non-working Canadian residents (international students included) be banned from owning single family homes and residential units that are not purpose-built rentals to prevent housing from being used as an investment.
Foreign and corporate investment should be in businesses not in housing. Canada’s productivity levels have returned back to 2011 levels, far below any developed country. We propose that the government incentivize foreign and corporate investment into businesses and not housing, by proposing a different tax structure that encourages business development and job creation.
Ban AirBnB rentals - many cities around the world (including Montreal, New York City, Vancouver, and Dallas) have begun restricting AirBnb listings as it is shown they severely deplete housing stock.
Build more mid-density buildings such as quadruplex (fourplex), triplex, or duplexes. One of the main drivers for Montreal being an affordable city is that the city has a good blend of single family houses, plenty of mid-density buildings, as well as high-rises.
Corporations be banned from purchasing or owning single family homes or single condo units. Exceptions would be in place for entire buildings and purpose-built rentals.

Responsible Use of Tax Dollars

Context:
Canadians tax dollars are wasted on expensive vacations for government officials, apps like ArriveCan which cost at least $53 million, and government consultants. While Canadians suffer their taxes are being paid out as non-humanitarian aid to corrupt governments or paid into the poverty industry supporting charities that have no intention to solving them. This reckless spending needs to end and the savings given back as tax breaks to the low and middle income class and/or invested into our crumbling healthcare and education system.

Demands:

Close and sell government office buildings that see little use or have employee unions who wish to work from home permanently.
Cut all non-humanitarian foreign aid including investment programs, education programs, and Canadian business promotion.
Impose maximum limits to MPs and the prime ministers expenses.
Shorten MPs summer and winter breaks. They should be working just as hard as any Canadian worker.
Review and block awarding contracts to any company that has any connection to a sitting PM or MP.
Cut government consultants and committees that do not pertain to housing, the economy, security, healthcare, infrastructure, and education.

Punish Corporate Malfeasance

Context:
Corporations in Canada are notorious for price gouging and the lack of competition in all industry sectors allows them to get away with it. Policies need to be made to punish dishonest prices and encourage more competition so that consumers can finally get a break.

Demands:

Increase fines for price fixing. $50 million for fixing the price of bread for years is a slap on the wrist.
Heavy fines for consistently selling underweight products.
Remove red tape so that it's easier for competitors to start up.

Reform the Justice System

Context:
It has become expected that those who commit random acts of violence, those caught stealing, or worse, are often quickly released. Most crimes and police interactions are with "persons known to police." Our justice system no longer delivers justice.

Demands:

Implement policies that Portugal has successfully done to decrease addiction and related crimes.
Repeated offenders who are dual citizens must have their Canadian citizenship revoked and be deported. Criminals who are not Canadian citizens must be immediately deported.
Impose mandatory detoxification and treatment for repeat offenders.

Electoral Reform

Context:
We were promised electoral reform by Justin Trudeau in 2015. The first-past-the-post system does a poor job of representing Canadians and only benefits the two major parties. We need more diversity in our government. More collaboration and less circus grand standing. A proportional representation system or another system will help Canadians feel like their vote actually matters.

Demands:

Institute proportional representation or a ranked ballot system for our federal elections.

Demands

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