It became apparent when Sean Fraser was Immigration Minister that one of two things must be true. 1) He genuinely doesn’t understand how markets work; or 2) he’s betting that many Canadians don’t understand. Unsure which one troubles me more.

Once again, hearing claims about residential construction "labour shortages" that are hard to reconcile with the data. Here are the facts on what's happening to the real wages and employment of general trades workers in 🇨🇦 construction sector. 👇

“Dwellings illegally transformed into tourist accommodation establishments are contributing to the housing crisis by taking thousands of units off the rental market for Montrealers,” Mayor Valerie Plante wrote on X. “Enough is enough.” #VanRE theglobeandmail.com/canada/article…

hudson.org/foreign-policy… authors nailed all the right things down.

Capping rent increases will have unintended consequences. When rent increases can't match expense increases landlords will head for the exits, rental units sold and rental stock will shrink. Not purpose built rentals, but condos being rented are certainly vulnerable. #VanRE

“..I don’t see any way to address this problem unless we temporarily curtail the number of international students. The federal government needs to become far more restrictive about that particular avenue for immigration, and quickly.” #VanRE theglobeandmail.com/opinion/articl…

One of the most articulate explanations of the intertwining of current housing crisis with immigration policy. #VanRE theglobeandmail.com/business/comme…

I couldn't agree more with Rohana Rezel 🐘 @[email protected] and the 5 point plan - most could be enacted immediately. #vanre

Embarrassed to admit I was unaware of Stoffman and his contribution to “Boom, Bust & Echo.” Thanks to DouglasTodd for enlightening me. 🙏 vancouversun.com/opinion/column…

"Stoffman was among the first to argue that Canada could deal with the societal costs of a large baby boom by increasing productivity through innovation. Alas, in recent years productivity has fallen" #Immigration #Productivity #canpoli vancouversun.com/opinion/column… via The Vancouver Sun

"to keep Canada’s economy level with Finland, the average Canadian is working 200 more hours. We’re working harder. They’re working smarter." #canpoli #Productivity The Globe and Mail theglobeandmail.com/business/comme…

Wow, this is a tremendous piece of evidence-based journalism from Joe Friesen . Must read. 👇theglobeandmail.com/canada/article…

I usually consider The Atlantic to be a thoughtful source of information & ideas, always well researched. But this article and this: "...why we were not making better use of the marksmanship skills I acquired as a child..." What a collection of tripe. theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/…

The U.S. has about 1 million foreign students in 2023 - Canada has about the same number, if not more (due to undercounting, according to CIBC) - Canada's population is 1/10th the U.S. #cdnpse #cdnpoli #internationalstudents #vanpoli #vanre #tore  statista.com/statistics/237…

"Last month, NY started enforcing strict rules on short-term leases. ...Hosts have to register with the city to get paid. Apartments have to be rented for 30 days or more...The hosts have to be on site, residing in the same unit." #BCpoli #HousingCrisis theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/…

"A Nanos poll for The Globe and Mail last month found that more than half of Canadians want the federal government to accept fewer immigrants than it is planning for in 2023 – a rise from one in three in a March survey." #canpoli #HousingCrisis theglobeandmail.com/politics/artic…

"But there is a much more fundamental problem with the govt’s furtive changes to visa requirements: a seeming obliviousness to the danger of undermining Canadians’ support for high levels of immigration." #canpoli #immigrationreform theglobeandmail.com/opinion/editor…

"At a meeting Friday, some of the municipal politicians who make up Metro Vancouver’s board bristled at what they described as a federal intrusion into regional affairs." #vanpoli #canpoli vancouversun.com/news/local-new… via The Vancouver Sun

"soaring immigration under the Liberals have not made Canada richer, or its social programs more sustainable.... Cda’s GDP per capita has failed to keep pace with that of other developed countries and even declined in recent quarters." #immigrationreform theglobeandmail.com/opinion/articl…

"The unsettling truth is that labour productivity, or output per worker, has slumped in Canada since the Trudeau Liberals began ramping up immigration levels. The drop reflects weak business investment in machinery & info tech." #immigrationreform theglobeandmail.com/opinion/articl…