582. Why Is Everyone Moving to Canada? | Freakonomics Radio

As the U.S. tries to fix its messy immigration system, our neighbor to the north is scooping up more talented newcomers every year. Are the Canadians stealing America’s bacon? (Part three of a three-part series.)
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[@xEric1993]

As a Canadian listening to this podcast I was shocked to hear what was being told. All I see on the news and hear in my day to day life is that Canada is importing mostly unskilled workers, and everyone I speak to seems VERY against immigration. If you look at our immigration statistics the vast majority come from India and are non-permanent meaning they are something like international students. I've never seen the media report this kind of immigration in a positive light here. It felt like what the podcast was reporting was completely at odds with my day to day experience as a Canadian

[@xyzrt1246]

It’s a shame when they report false information like this

[@powhound121]

The big issue has been the disconnect between immigration and housing. We certainly need immigration as discussed here but the Feds failed to understand, consider, and plan for the rapid surge in demand for services and housing.

[@xEric1993]

@@powhound121 Housing yes, but also services like healthcare. It's already impossible to find a family doctor in Canada, we have a massive shortage. I live in a small town and there are no doctors that want to move here. Over 5000 people in town have no family doctor because we don't have enough. Bringing in more immigrants without bolstering our services will just make matters worse

[@JT.Pilgrim]

@@xEric1993or. Bringing in more people will boost your population and by default create a condition where doctors will want to practice in your town. It’s all about what lens we want to see the issue through.

[@xEric1993]

@@JT.Pilgrim what kind of logic is that? No it absolutely will not. You cannot bring in more people without the infrastructure to support them first. You don’t bring in more people and then find a way to scramble and build the infrastructure. That is putting the carriage before the horse.

[@canadianroots7681]

14:32 It's good hearing about Mob Squad and scooping up people who are in the US on employer visas but unable to get more secure status. In the 80's, our family found ourselves stranded 2,000 miles from home (Canada), the employer refused to honour the contract, and my parents took a huge financial hit moving us back to Canada. It's why I'm so against employer based visas.

[@fin31337]

You might wanted to say that many people move out of Canada? :)

[@xyzrt1246]

Interesting points here, but Canadian news is filled with immigration issues.

[@wenbinyang1689]

Excellent podcast, learned a lot between two immigration systems