Canada has always been recognized around the world as a welcoming nation. But a report I read this week made me question if there is such a thing as too much immigration.

Welcome to week 49 of The Sunday Spark, a series with weekly thoughts and highlights, nuggets of learning, and a decluttering challenge for the week.

On my mind this week: Are we allowing too much immigration?

Earlier this week, I ran across a report from the National Bank of Canada questioning the viability of Canada’s immigration policy. With an aging population, and ongoing labour shortages, I’ve always seen immigration as a positive—a way to maintain economic growth. I must admit this report made me stop and think. How much is too much?

Let’s look at the numbers. In 2022 and 2023, Canada’s population grew by over 2 million people. Our 2023 population growth was 3.2%—five times the OECD average.

Before I go any further, let me be clear that I am not looking at this from an exclusionary or racist point of view. Canada is recognized around the world as a welcoming nation. I truly believe the mosaic of many cultures and diverse perspectives enriches our society in so many ways. As an immigrant myself, I know my life would have been very different if my parents had not taken that leap of faith 50 years ago.

Nevertheless, it’s no secret that we’re in the middle of a housing crisis. Every community across the country is struggling with finding housing solutions for the homeless. Many young people have given up all hope of home ownership. Those who can get into the housing market often get caught up in bidding wars and end up spending more than they should. And the rental property market is a mess with demand far outstripping supply, and prices that are out of the reach of low-income Canadians.

Something has to change

It’s clear that we can’t continue on our current path. Something needs to change. I don’t think there’s a magic solution and I admit I don’t have all the answers. However, some ideas come to mind that could be part of the solution to our housing and labour shortages and allow us to slow the pace of immigration.  

• Build homes people can afford. Kudos to our local government for embracing the concept of high density living. Our city council has approved lots of high-rise condo developments, yet most of them are “luxury condos” that are out of the reach of first-time home buyers. At the other end of the spectrum, the single-family homes they’re building are bigger than what the average person needs.
• Build more rental properties. In a world where home ownership is out of the reach of many, increasing the supply of rental housing is critical.
• Look for creative solutions to labour shortages. Businesses need to think beyond what they’ve always done. Instead of slashing training budgets and looking outside the company to fill open positions, how about upskilling existing workers? Rather than pushing older workers out the door, why not consider flexible work opportunities to tap into their knowledge and wisdom?
• Revisit immigration policies to bring in workers with skills that are in short supply. Then, make it easier for them to use those skills upon arrival in Canada. It makes no sense to have foreign-trained doctors driving cabs.

Solving our current crisis will require employers, governments, and individuals to think differently. Can we put politics aside in the interest of the greater good? I hope so. Our future depends on it.

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Three highlights of the week

It’s important to celebrate big milestones and simple pleasures in life. Keeping the trend going, here are three highlights and simple pleasures of the week gone by:

• The weather warmed up a bit this week, and the sun even made a few appearances! That gave me the opportunity to get outside for a lunchtime walk most days.
• I got a lovely thank you message from a lady who picked up one of the items I had posted on our local Buy Nothing group. She said her son loves his new teapot. It’s wonderful when things we’re decluttering can create joy for someone else.
• At the beginning of every weekend, I make a list of things I need to get done. For the first time in a long time, I finished everything on the list by Sunday.

“Things I learned this week” will be back next week

Once again, it has been a slow week on the learning front. Pulling together my Second Life Vision workshop has been taking away from my learning and blog reading.

On that note, I still have room for a couple more people to join the pilot of my Second Life Vision workshop that I’m running on Wednesday evenings in April. Learn more about how this workshop fit into my Year of Reinvention and sign up for this free opportunity in this post.

This week’s decluttering challenge

In 2024, I’ve been revisiting the 52-Week Decluttering Challenge I completed in 2021. This week’s challenge was decluttering the kitchen cupboards, and I’m happy to report I decluttered 19 items. You can find the details, along with my tips and learnings, in this week’s decluttering post.

If you’re new to the challenge, visit this post to download your free checklists and jump right in with this week’s task.

I’d love to hear what you think about any of this week’s topics. Drop me a comment below and let me know your thoughts and ideas.