Canada’s Population Crisis

History's greatest sidekicks plans for independence have hit a wall.
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References & Sources
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docs.google.com/SPREADSHEETs/... Project SPREADSHEET ( WB Data, US/Canadian Govt Stats, Federal Reserve)
[1] allthatsinteresting.com/great...
[2] gwern.net/doc/history/1994-wi...
[3] www.worldometers.info/world-p...
[4] www.bbc.com/news/in-pictures-...
[5] www.stats.govt.nz/information...
[6] www.abs.gov.au/statistics/peo... 26,473,055 (March 2023 Australia)
[7] SPREADSHEET year 2000 30401286 to 279040000
[8] (Present day) www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/daily... 39858480 www.census.gov/library/storie... 334233854 (1:8.39)
[9] www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/daily... 39,858,480 * (334233854 US / 39858480 CAN) / (26,473,055 AUS /5,223,100 NZ) = 1.65
[10] en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of... TO: 6711985*
[11] data.oecd.org/italy.htm 58.9m
[12] worldpopulationreview.com/cou... France: 64.6m, UK 67.5m
[13] european-union.europa.eu/prin...
[14] www.bankofcanada.ca/banknotes...
[15] www.thecanadianencyclopedia.c...
[16] www.statista.com/statistics/1...
[17] www.pewresearch.org/global/20... top rated
[18] www.pewresearch.org/global/20...
[19] databank.worldbank.org/report...
[20] SPREADSHEET Cell AS141 “0.9312815535”
[21] SPREADSHEET Data:AS37 “30685730”
[22] SPREADSHEET 0.9312815535
[24] SPREADSHEET Aus: 1.144472851 USA: 1.112768997 France: 0.6867825869 UK: 0.3573008874
[25] SPREADSHEET IND: 1.822184002 PHL: 2.216794064
[26] 2015 was the low of 0.93% growth. 2016: 1.07% up from there
[27] 2015: 0.746339478, 2016: 1.132348655, 2017: 1.199520711, 2018: 1.412455869, 2019: 1.436136823, 2020: 1.073795827, 2021: 0.5754219165, 2022: 1.823370422
[28] www.statcan.gc.ca/o1/en/plus/...
[29] www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/daily...
[30] www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/daily... 39566248 www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/7... 40362294
[31] thewalrus.ca/thirty-five-mill... Copyright © 2017 Doug Saunders
[32] SPREADSHEET USA: 0.3775645315 AUS: 1.125898518 PHL: 1.46331573 IND: 0.6803725811
[33] www.cmhc-schl.gc.ca/professio...
[34] • Canada wants 100 milli...
[35] www.google.com/search?q=centu...
[36] www.ft.com/content/86836af4-6...
[37] papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.c...
[38] themeasureofaplan.com/canadia...
[39] www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toront...
[40] www.edmonton.ca/city_governme...
[41] edmontonjournal.com/news/loca...
[42] www.edmonton.ca/city_governme...
[43] www.cbc.ca/news/canada/britis...
[44] / canada_sub
[45] / canadahousing2
[46] / povertyfinancecanada
[47] www.thestar.com/news/canada/t...
[48] www.thecanadianencyclopedia.c...
[49] Maximum Canada 1st Edition p106
References Continued: drive.google.com/file/d/1fcCQ...

[@morbital]

Wait, Sir Wilfrid Laurier is on the $5 note, you didn't have one? Here, have $5 bro! No excuses next time! :P

[@tristanridley1601]

That is the most brilliant donation I think I've ever seen.

[@PaigeMTL]

Pretty pretty pretty good. I was annoyed at that mixup, now I'm amused.

[@jacktattersall9457]

Robert Borden is on the $100 bill William Lyon Mackenzie King is on the $50 bill HM Queen Elizabeth II is on the $20 bill Viola Desmond is on the vertical and Sir John A MacDonald on the pre-2017 horizontal $10 bill

[@trishsaunders4296]

Send them all ​@@jacktattersall9457

[@KC3YCU]

You should only accept it if it's the series with a painting of kids playing hockey on the back. A true reflection of Canada's valuy

[@TimeLemon]

I work at a hospital and have no choice but to leave in order to not burnout before I hit 30. Our healthcare system is a sinking ship and the people in power are patching the holes with overpriced toilet paper, then bailing the water by making more holes.

[@TimeLemon]

Or at least in Ontario this is the case.

[@zUJ7EjVD]

As someone who is not a healthcare worker I commend you. Maintaining passion for your field is far more important than ensuring everything works smoothly at present when we can still fix things.

[@churblefurbles]

His solution is to double the population when the system is failing because his predecessors did exactly the same thing.

[@Notfunnysam]

Yeah...privatization means health care for profit motive. Let's give middle men our tax dollars and cause a bankruptcy..Doug Ford sabotaged Ontario hwalth care and ushered in greedy investors....immediately ER'S are closing because it's not profitable to run things efficiently....

[@tudormiller887]

It's not too dissimilar to here in the UK.🇬🇧

[@SleinJinn]

That timely half-a-beat pause in the middle of "pull out all the stops" absolutely slayed me. Laughing like a maniac in an empty flat for several minutes. Incredible delivery.

[@PaigeMTL]

Woooh the joke worked. I never know if anything in these videos lands.

[@Empyreal81]

Ohhhh it LANDED for sure

[@jackfeldman3916]

I don’t get it… was it just that he said “pull out?”

[@themariokartlick]

@@jackfeldman3916Canada has the same population growth as countries that [have men that] don’t pull out [resulting in a high birth rate]

[@michelangelobuonarroti4958]

Saying Toronto and Montreal are too small for HSR is the dumbest thing I've heard in 2024

[@AustinSersen]

Same with Calgary and Edmonton. They've been saying we need "double the population" back when the cities were half the size that they are today. It's just an excuse that prevents transit from being built....furthering our reliance on automobiles.

[@dentrobate54]

Toronto-Ottawa-Montreal has viability

[@mikehimself9462]

No worries, the year is young. You will hear better this summer.

[@Norsilca]

Homestar Runner?

[@SubvertTheState]

There USED to be a trolley that ran between the towns along Lake Erie...Mid Century, car companies bought up all sorts of public transit, and dismantled it.

[@Helioscore1]

Fuck that google maps switch to 2007 hit so hard. I've been preaching this point to so many people that want to "go back to the good old days" that were just blind to how shit this country was for a long time, but like you said... it just wasn't broken enough that people had to see it.

[@zUJ7EjVD]

Timestamp 12:08

[@joseph-vw1wm]

I think boomers have the memory of fish. They somehow dont realize crime was way worse in the 90s for both Usa and canada

[@yo-no9879]

Grew up in Toronto most of my life. Only thing that changed was the weather and the TTC buses. It's still the same shit hole it has always been.

[@oali2478]

As someone who was an international student in Canada and is now one in Australia you really see how similar the issues and opportunities are for both countries.

[@Andre_XX]

Both countries are equally stupid.

[@melgibsonn]

Just found your channel. This is a great summary! I'm a fellow oceaniac immigrant living in Montreal.. Canada loves immigrants, but GDP per capita data is falling, and immigration is taking the blame. People only like growth policies if their standard of living is improving simultaneously.

[@thankukorea]

I agree. We are a resource country. More immigration doesnt help us. Im not anti immigrant but we need to accept people and let them work in their areas of expertise. I manage a cafe and tons of people are applying from other countries and these people are well qualified to work in other fields. Canada is a resource country. We need to manage this country better. Im not saying Im anti free trade but if we have free trade America will often take the take the best and that will continue even if we reach 100 million. There is so many alternative ways to attract skilled people that we just dont do and when we attract them the retraining is wasteful. Imagine a world where Canada offers easy long visas with countries willing to work together for bilateral education standards and long visas. We'd get the skills we need. Some of these other countries need money badly so they will get semi valuable Canadian money and hopefully great Canadian experience . Canada will get to keep the immigration numbers at a reasonable amount for a resource based country, we'd get skilled people for a decent amount of time, potential cool place to retire too ;) , a new ally or 2... Immigration just is a way to fix some problem while causing others. Before free trade we had almost the same big industries that we have today (this just personal observation) in some cases Canada lost some but hopefully they ere offset by the ones created by free trade. I want everyone in this country immigrant or national to be comfortable and hopefully successful. Your comment about the GDP is very true. My father came this country and built a decent life for himself. I dont see that for average people any more.

[@AustinSersen]

Every province needs to do what BC is doing forcing TOD at transit centres. Calgary alone could welcome at least 250,000 more people just in the space their park 'n rides occupy. Too bad Alberta's provincial government wouldn't even consider something like rezoning for TOD at transit centres.

[@zUJ7EjVD]

Who is Tod and what makes him so special?

[@RoboJules]

@@zUJ7EjVD Tod's a cool dude who wants to build some apartments with retail and office space on the bottom near subway stations. Everybody loves Tod, as he's a great guy who fixes a lot of problems, and we could use him across the country.

[@michaelk2459]

​@@zUJ7EjVDtransit oriented development

[@guscampos3030]

⁠@@zUJ7EjVD I believe they’re referring to Transit Oriented Developments, but I could be completely wrong

[@lynb1022]

Edmonton passed a motion to bring in inclusionary zoning, and Alberta actively blocked it. The parasites who run the show are salivating at the prospect of property values here exploding they way they have in BC & Ontario.

[@sdesrocher]

This video hits on many of the issues we're currently facing in Canada, but our significant decline in productivity and GDP per capita can't be understated. Rather than building value, our political "leadership" (currently a bunch of party wonks on all sides of the political spectrum, who seem to have done very little outside of a political bubble) pander to a branch plant economy mindset rather than building value from our resource sector and capacity to innovate.

[@akarayan]

I don’t understand how people don’t like kids. They’re like tiny drunk people who are completely honest and insane. It’s just an absolute blast

[@PASH3227]

Most dual working parents need to pay someone to take care of those children while they are at work, but we are unwilling to pay people to do that for a living wage.

[@BikeHelmetMk2]

This video is a bloody masterpiece. The way you tied it all together is magnificent. You actually pointed out all the interconnected problems rather than fixating on individual ones - you know, like the government and media often tend to. You sir, deserve to have a million subscribers. I hope that one day more people recognize the the quality of what you put together, and the important messages that you convey.

[@evplatypus3039]

this is the absolute best explanation and take I've seen on Canada's problems yet. great video

[@MultigrainKevinOs]

Buddy, this is just the video I needed, you always put things into perspective. You are right we need a lot of things that skilled folks bring to the table and we have a lot of problems that have been left to fester on their own. We need bold decisions and policy makers that are willing to trade political capital for the long term. While we haven't seen anything yet I am genuinely excited for the zoning reforms in Edmonton, but I am equally depressed how much prime land still sits empty, what are we waiting for to build?

[@PaigeMTL]

Thanks. I’ve thought a lot about it. Pushing back against the instinctive negativity and cynicism during times like these and focusing on reforms seems like the right thing to do.

[@churblefurbles]

Its not, Brazil has 6 times the population and basically the same GDP as Canada, immigration is a false premise.

[@lynb1022]

Edmonton passed inclusionary zoning. Alberta quashed it.

[@ColonelPassTheCheese]

I've been a fan since the early days when most of your content was about Montreal and urbanism. Thank you for this much sane take about immigration.

[@zakwern]

Is immigration not just a bandaid for a larger issue of demographic collapse/issues? You stated that populations around the world are decreasing. Wouldn't policies to encourage canadians to make more canadians be a equal sized part of this solution?

[@joseph-vw1wm]

Even the devoleped countries which heaviliy incentivize birth rates are barely above replacement rate (Israel, Ireland etc)

[@annab8317]

Bringing in adult immigrants is attractive for the state, which can save 20 years' worth of healthcare and education expenses by avoiding supporting a worker through their childhood. But it costs the private housing market a LOT, because each adult worker needs an independent place to live the second they set foot in the country- instead of a home-grown kid who has a social safety net in the form of Mom & Dad and whose appearance in population stats can signal to home builders that there is growth ahead in the market. Unfortunately, birth rates are HIGHLY sensitive to housing cost here, as Western parents will not keep 4 kids in 1 bedroom. I think that unfortunately governments see too much appeal in sparing the $100k+ it costs to raise a Canadian child and will instead continue to externalize the costs of that growth onto other countries. As Paige points out, this strategy is not going to work indefinitely. We'll see a shift in the "people exporter" countries from Asia to sub-Saharan Africa within the next 15 years, especially from countries that can structure and formalize their education.

[@complexaltruist]

Those sorts of policies dont really work. Once a society is developed enough, the people just dont want kids.

[@dunnowy123]

Israeli women have 3 children on average, they are the worst example you can use @@joseph-vw1wm

[@dunnowy123]

​@@complexaltruist So you shouldn't try? Why not? People say this all the time, but why not? The fact that Canadians don't feel like they can afford a child is a HUGE problem that should be taken seriously.

[@JaspreetSingh-kn5qr]

Two videos in less than 24hrs? Very niceee

[@JoshLemer]

Wilfered Laurier is on the $5 not the $100! Borden is on the $100!

[@PaigeMTL]

Quite right. It’s funny no-one picked up on that during all the revisions, but I guess people don’t carry cash much anymore.

[@ikesau]

lmfao this is why paige needs more patrons

[@olamfilms]

Yo. This was an awesome video. Thank you so much for the research and writing that went into this excellent analysis of this national moment!

[@ThalassTKynn]

Oh man, the skilled migrant point hits hard. I have a skilled trade in Australia and it was pretty crushing to have to start again after coming to Canada. It fuckin sucks. Hopefully these new zoning laws will prevent the flood of needed housing from being a sea of single family homes. Canada's big, but we don't want to bulldoze the whole thing.

[@jasonriddell]

I went through the hoops to immigrate to Australia in 2007 ... I am a licenced "diesel mechanic"/ heavy transport mechanic and the Australian government would NOT recognise a canadian red seal mechanic even knowings back then "diesel mechanic" was on top of there priority list

[@5831a]

Why leave OZ, our weather is shit in comparison.

[@ThalassTKynn]

@@5831a wife's from Canada and she got homesick. To be fair it's getting too hot to survive in Australia these days so it's probably for the best

[@ethanmitchell7753]

subscribed brother, love the coverage and detail.

[@FrizzyAnimation]

Fantastic video! Explains the whole issue really well.

[@yahyahfiacel]

Absolutely amazing video Paige! What a great Sunday of both our challenges and opportunities.

[@gravisan]

That montage of govt. doing something got me so inspired, I forgot about the crushing bills.

[@jacktattersall9457]

I do not belive the argument that low population explains our high telecom prices for a moment. In Australia, my mom got an equivalent plan from their major carrier Telstra for $20 less than we pay in Canada with Bell or Rogers when accounting for sales tax and currency conversion. And Australia has just over 25 million people not 40 million.

[@PaigeMTL]

I don't either, but the telcos USE that argument.

[@jacktattersall9457]

@@PaigeMTL And some of the cheapest data is in small EU countries which almost suggests that lower population would give us cheaper prices (not that I believe it). The fundamental issue is the oligopoly doesn't feel threatened and our CRTC regulator is insufficiently strict and mean. I told an Optus sales rep in Sydney they should enter the Canadian market, because if they did they would scare the other telcos shitless and get half the Canadian market before they knew it. I want the CRTC commissioner to have a personal goal of becoming the most hated person in the world by Bell, Telus, Rogers to the point they start sending him deaththreats.

[@jasonriddell]

@@PaigeMTL also LOOK at the telco's earnings and they have SO MUCH vertical integration from "phone" to media rights to internet provisioning there are "NVMO" operators that are illegal in canada but LEGAL in most other countries an NVMO "rents" the infrastructure from the incumbents and then provides the "consumer facing" portion and understandably they DONT want to lease out there backbone to there competition as it would give competitive pressures and lower prices

[@JoseLopez-hp5oo]

It's not just population, it's population per land surface area. The people in cities are subsidizing the costs to run and backhaul 5G service in NWT to serve 500 people as an example.

[@jacktattersall9457]

@@JoseLopez-hp5oo Australia has some pretty empty places to, like the Nullarbor Plain (so called because it has no trees) and the Outback.

[@Bismvth]

Love love love this video so much, you really never miss. Puts a lot of things I've been thinking about as a progressive housing advocate and a Strong Towner into one reference video. I'd add we need to bring back villages. I'm terrified that expansionist immigration policy will, in an economic downturn, become fuel for an apartheid-like feudalist regime where existing property owners wring our underbelly for every cent we have. We need more cooperative ownership, we need more mobile job opportunities. We need more Canadians becoming rich, and fewer Canadians staying rich.

[@Hotrod768]

I agree that the "accelerationism" of the immigrations rates helped oil the wheels on housing. I actually believe that the governments will unintentionally stumble into threading the needle for applying enough immigration to put pressure on reform, without totally destroying the consensus on immigration.

[@churblefurbles]

You will just end up as Brazil, 6 times the population, favellas, and barely any improvement in GDP.

[@rodneychan914]

Made me tear up a little. Thank you for the optimistic conclusion. We can do it!!!

[@Aeyekay0]

I’ve always wondered the source of your accent, now I know. Good video btw

[@CG-yq2xy]

6:55 "Unlike France, the US is our only neighbor...." _cries in St. Pierre & Miquelon and Hans island_

[@geofflepper3207]

Based on total land area and total population it seems obvious that Canada has low population density and that this makes it difficult and expensive to provide transportation and services to Canadians. However an expert on cell phone service who advocates for consumers said that if one looks at the actual areas where Canadians live and ignores the vast northern areas where there are few or no people living Canada is actually more densely populated than is the United States. Alnost all Canadians live in a narrow band along the American border whereas in the lower 48 states Americans are spread out almost everywhere. So according to that consumer advocate Canadian cell phone companies need to provide service to only a small area of Canada whereas American cellphone companies need to provide cellphone service everywhere in the lower 48 states and so Canadian cellphone companies shouldn't use low population density as an excuse for having higher cellphone rates than in the United States.

[@RRRiotGhost]

Long time viewer. First time commenter. This was incredibly informative, totally answered questions I've had for years. I want to see the 40 million weighted in the east, which seems to be the trend. The population increase will make the Quebec -Windsor corridor. Growth in the cities in the west will help on the intercity and local level but the lag behind in the car-dependent middle is stunted, it will take drastic measures. I mean this on a nuanced way - i.e. I live in MTL but am from Ottawa and it is shocking that they have such poor transit yet also dream of the west being less spread out. Imagine Winnipeg had 3 million people,.then you could take a regular sleeper or HSR from TO. But then there is empty Sask and Texas North - paradoxically the OGs of rail during western expansion. Alberta has built an empire within an empire within an empire. We could just connect the east to Winnipeg and Vancouver, incentivize the oil people to get off the libertarian kool-aid. Quebec definitely needs to do the same and the gov is currently making bad choices that won't bode well for a very diverse society of 9 million. QC and AB combined with overall car-dependence...such a bad scene.

[@patdonaldson2570]

paige One of the things you haven't covered and I think is super important is that there is absolutely a TON of housing and empty businesses for sale in rural Canada. In our town we are at nearly 60% occupancy and are absolutely desperate for people to come live and work here. This is true of every single small prairie town. Like my dad bought an 800sqft empty house 5 months ago for only $20,000k. I think it's something you might want to speak to.

[@friesingthebeat]

Should advocate for the opening of good train lines to diversify transport to small towns, and then even high speed rail to encourage moving around the country

[@tristanridley1601]

We need better infrastructure out there (including good internet) to make jobs and a life more reasonable. I grew up in a barely-rural area, and the 'activities' for teens were mostly drinking, drugs, and getting pregnant. For adults, even less. Maybe if we take a hint from European small towns and build some real "third places", more people would be willing to live there. That said... Where is this? I was looking for even a bit of empty land in rural southern Ontario and the prices were many times what you're saying.

[@jasonriddell]

but what is the average wage in your small town OR more accurately what are the jobs / education / healthcare like a LOT of small towns are not much more then a farming community OR a dead ex resource town that has yet to "close up shop"

[@davidstraight4258]

There is a major issue here in that to be rural is to be all in on car ownership. I grew up rural. It takes so much time driving to do anything and cars are not cheap any more. Just keeping winter tires on my own cars takes up so much of my spare money. If you were groomed to be rural like I was then you can do it but to move from an urban place to Canada might be asking too much.

[@pablosaravanja]

Where did your dad buy that home?

[@nvzmv]

Aw 2/3 way through, I find this really uplifting

[@AutumnBosco]

Absolutely incredible video

[@planningpersonlaidbackdeep1273]

Why dont they just give them the same med board tests canadian trained students take. If they can pass the same test license them.

[@youtube79z]

Paige this is your best video to date, you are the hero Canada needed

[@davenrai]

Another great one!

[@Nabee_H]

Love the video and realism. You usually watch a video like this and leave thinking is this all? You however gave an optimistic perspective to this aswell.

[@churblefurbles]

Its not realism, any claim there is a need for more population is built on a faulty premise.

[@matthewporter4079]

Great Documentary @ 4:46 we did have a national railway. Canadian National was that product. Bought by the government from roughly a dozen bankrupt railways at the turn of the 20th century to basically save a number of cities and towns who would have no access to any other part of the nation without the railways. However CN also struggled with CP and all other railroads in the post war years competing with car and airline, the only difference being that they had the backing of the federal government. In the 1990s, the Liberal government was trying to balance the books from years of previous misspending, so they ended up selling CN to US investors (as of now BIll Gates is the largest shareholder). As stupid as it may sound, I think the Federal government should have kept CN and re managed it, perhaps even stick to the original plan of keeping VIA (who was initialling apart of the CN system family). Perhaps it would still be the same mismanaged company but at least it would have been accountable to Canadian taxpayers though and maybe high speed rail might have a bit more of a chance.

[@mrmartis1123]

Well done! Well done!

[@teddymacrae]

One of your best yet. Probably the most talked about issue with the least nuance in this political cycle. Crossing my fingers the algorithm finally throws you a bone and this one takes off.

[@WilliamDavis-hs8zu]

I throughly enjoyed your comment about family planning. We need more open and honest debate surrounding this topic.

[@vivalaleta]

All your complaints are valid. As an American I never considered any of of Canada's angst.

[@tristanridley1601]

Anywhere else on earth we'd be an important nation. Here we're an afterthought at best. Your leaders even force one-sided trade deals and get angry any time we express any sort of diplomatic independence. It's really awkward, and explains why we get QUITE so agitated when your media pushes your strange letter zee on us.

[@DRL1320]

Tristan. Just no. Enough of the Canadian breast beating. Enough of defining “Canadian” as “not American”. The problem with that definition is you have to demonize your neighbors and problematize everything about American policy, culture and economy - while wholesale benefiting from those and appropriating the culture - and emigrating to the US when convenient. I was at a jazz camp last summer outside Montreal. To hear the Canadians talk about it, you’d think jazz had originated in Toronto. Yeah, just horrible having to deal with American culture next door. Never a good word to say about their neighbors, or their neighbors’ history, culture or economy.

[@vivalaleta]

Believe me you, I heartily despise all our leaders since FDR. Also I dropped cable over a decade ago so you're barking up the wrong tree. However I do see where you're coming from. I'd move out of this country if I could afford to. @@tristanridley1601

[@kevinmeisner5380]

Who is this American who is watching anything to do outside of their country. I applaud you. I have many American friends who can't find canada on the map

[@vivalaleta]

@@kevinmeisner5380 ILMAO

[@ryanelliott71698]

As an Ontario resident this hits hard. I want to stay in my parents city as I love it. It’s not just 1 issue, it’s nimbys, a beaucratic nightmare making housing a slog to get to, decades of every level of government disencenavising trade jobs, so now even if housing permits could all be fixed today, there just isn’t enough trades people to build houses in a quick timeframe. But that’s not all, the anti walkability of cities and towns, lack of funding of public transit means highways can be a nightmare to go through, along with other things that make Canada feel sad at times. But I still want to believe in hope. Yeah, Polivere I wouldn’t consider perfect, but dear god, when the conservatives are now the only party pro nuclear power and only ones with some sort of plan to fix housing than even the NDP, I see no other option tbh.

[@MrAlen6e]

Organized in your municipality, Edmonton manage to change zoning laws and other municipalities because the incredible work by organizations that truly understand change in urban planning is needed.

[@smallstudiodesign]

I spit my coffee out when you said “… *as far as climate change, Canada’s getting off fairly lightly* …” - with all the record wildfires and flooding and heat domes in last few years , I beg to differ, mate!

[@WeirdAwesomeGeography]

Great video!

[@DreamsOfRyleh]

Thank you so much for making it clear that housing is a problem for our immigration needs, not the other way around.

[@ryanhou162]

Hi brother Paige, you have spoken the truth. And truth has power. Wonderful production.

[@botks894]

Really good video, I hope more Canadians see this

[@adf8u284ja]

I can certainly appreciate a more hopeful take on this conversation, as the tenor of the public conversation in english Canada on this subject has rapidly taken a dismal turn in the past year or so. But not sure if this video will be able to reach the people it needs to reach when the argument becomes "these are just necessary growing pains", because there's a very easy dodge to this line of argumentation: is growth worth any cost? Worth *maybe* having a lower cell phone bill, or staying part of the G7, or whatever else? Japan has been shrinking for the last 30 years, and by most accounts, life is mostly fine there. Doing our part to secure the world's common future in the face of climate change is the far stronger of the arguments, in my opinion. To be honest, I have serious doubts that english Canada will be able to sustain a cohesive identity and sense of neighbourliness if this rate of growth is maintained. Québec is a completely different story, for many reasons. Modern Québec society is much younger (a lot of its major defining institutions only date back to the quiet revolution) and the fact that Québec identity was forged in the fire of the quiet revolution has given it a lot more vitality. Being a Quebecker means something. French Canada has already collectively wrestled with the question of identity, of what our society stands for and what our role is in it, and of what the role of private institutions is in our society, et cetera. English Canada is currently wrestling with the fact that hockey, thinking multiculturalism is cool, and maybe doing things slightly better than American-style hellscape does not constitute an actual identity that will stand up to the crises of the modern world. Civil society in english Canada was already weak before this shift in public opinion, after years of attack from neoliberals (thanks Mike Harris et al), and now one of english Canada's few cultural touchstones is threatened... can an already anemic society actually navigate these challenges and grow in response? I guess we're about to find out. Yes, this could be the reckoning that english Canada needs to have a Québec-style cultural epiphany, to completely reexamine and remodel society to serve its current and future needs, and to emerge on the other side stronger for it. I'll be happy if that's the case, but it's far from a guarantee. English Canada needs its own états généraux moment to collectively wrestle with these questions, but the sense of collective identity is already so weak that I'm not sure it's even possible. I grew up in Ontario and moved to Québec as a young adult. As things stand now, I can't imagine ever moving back to Ontario. Things aren't perfect here, but it's a far cry from how things are going in english Canada. I don't think enough Quebeckers appreciate that.

[@jasonriddell]

as an "english" Canadian I get your points but I see "3 canada's" quebec that gets "everything" AND "forces" french on us 2 Toronto - the centre of the universe - the only people that exist at all 3RD everywhere else - the bumpkins that don't matter and "hate" french / TORONTO as much as the USA watch politics and "quebec" is getting something from Ottawa and Toronto approves of it then it is good for everyone but ANY other region NOT Ottawa / QUEBEC it is ignored OR outright attacked and the latest government has gone so far as to state "if we want representation we should have voted like Toronto did I 100% know those 2 regions is MOST of the population base and that the "other" are actually OVER represented as far as seets go but LAND MASS wise the "other" is trodden on and ignored at an official level that in itself is the driver behind all the "BQ" esc parties ONLY focused on the "west" and without having the "power" to get what "we want" builds a feeling of not being "part of CANADA" OR that "CANADA IS BROKEN"

[@royalmellon6811]

I agree with mostly what you said but we can’t just give everyone a license to work in healthcare. As someone who comes from a country where people can BUY degrees, it’s a huge risk. We already have systems in place where they can take our exams and as long as they meet our quality standards, they can be certified. However most of these people are NOT meeting our standards and it will be a disfavour to Canadians if we gave them medical licenses

[@geofflepper3207]

I wonder even about some "post secondary" institutions in the United States and Canada. Are there correspondence school universities in the United States that are set up as cash making machines that casually give out degrees of no real value? I wonder too about private colleges in Canada that no Canadian would go to but foreign students come to because they don't realize that the colleges are cash making machines scamming foreign students and which don't really provide proper education.

[@Berdihan_outdoors]

As if Canadian body is different than rest of the world. Of course they need to pass certain test or exam wgich must be quick and efficient rather than going to Uber fleet. I have neuro suregeon friend from China who does admin job. This Canadian experience bs needs to stop and born Canadians need to embrace the change quick. Cmon, landline phones are history in Asia now except businesses. In Canada baby boomers still think it is top technology.

[@oliverjurd]

I agree with this video but to expand on the Australia point, Australia's housing crisis is probably even worse than Canada in several key ways. This housing crisis in Australia has been a long time coming, and is due to more than just the typically bad zoning policies. Australia has several absolutely terrible tax policies that incentivise renting out housing - where if a landlord does not make enough money from rent to cover a mortgage, the government will give you a tax credit that makes up the difference (negative gearing). Another problem in Australia is that - until recently - regulations on the quality of new housing was absolutely terrible, meaning that there have been several major incidents of collapsing buildings. Australia's cities have been desperately trying to increase housing stock, especially in new (quite ugly and car-centric) developments in the western suburbs of Sydney, but it's just straight up not enough, especially with a massive amount of NIMBY pressure from wealthy people in the lower north shore, eastern suburbs and a select group of suburbs in the in inner west. The housing crisis has gotten so bad that people have begun to move 2hrs+ away from the city to places like the Central Coast, Wollongong and the Blue Mountains, it's getting insane. Melbourne's not much better about this with a constantly sprawling suburban area being built around it, due to it's lack of geographic borders. I don't really know what Australia can do about our housing crisis as even with the housing crisis it's extraordinarily unpopular to scrap negative gearing and building new housing stock is absurdly unpopular, even in places RIGHT NEXT TO TRAIN OR LIGHT RAIL.

[@jasonriddell]

I know they have talked about "negative gearing" in CANADA as a SOLUTION as the same time it is being used as an excuse / ISSUE I have not seen any numbers showing it causes HARM to the total housing situation as it allows LOWER RENT from higher real-estate prices and NO government wants to ACTUALLY see home prices collapse as they then basically will have to BUY ALL of the backwards mortgages OR watch the economy implode and make 2008 look like a walk in the park and until we find a way to DEFLATE real estate prices and NOT wipeout the banking sector and make the people "backwards" whole again because without those steps having lending go away no new mortgages OR money to expand / start a business and if 1/2 of your population is driven into debt slavery and stop spending OR worse declare bankruptcy you have banks collapsing anyways AND an economy that slams on the brakes as they wont spend money as there retirement is NOW blown out of the water OR if they want to move they CAN NOT due to what is OWED is far greater then there sale value so they walk away with a mortgage and NO property

[@buildatree]

Ok but for real are sponsored by Alexis De Portneuf or just a cheese fan? Either way you gotta try their sauvagine😂 Also loved this video btw - your format is real fun to watch and learn from

[@Agent_N7]

I'm going to go out on a limb before I watch the video and say that much like most developed nations, the low birth rates stem from a lack of money to raise kids, and a lack of time to date/start a family. Easily solvable by mandating 32 hours as full time and increasing the minimum income to 1.25x the cost of living. They may also want to look into tax cuts/credits for couples that pop out for or more kids. Also, when calculating that minimum income, adjust for more children.

[@glykolyse8076]

Interesting video! Could you (or someone else) speak to how higher interest rates affect housing supply in Canada? Here in Germany we’re also struggling with a housing crisis and the government has responded by upping their target to 400 000 new homes per year. However, high interest rates have caused construction to fall of the cliff, leading to significantly less housing getting done than in past years. How is Canada is grappling with this?

[@MrAlen6e]

Same as in Germany, it will slow construction.

[@lynb1022]

Canada is pouring billions into incentivizing builders, including the Housing Accelerator Fund, removing the GST (goods & services tax), softening zoning & permitting requirements, but developers still refuse to build affordable housing, because they make more money building "luxury homes" for wealthy "investors" who neither live here or add anything productive to Canadian society. We are held hostage by these developers and "investors" and at this point would be better off nationalizing housing (like Vienna).

[@shreyv]

Thank you Paige. As a recent south asian immigrant, I appreciate you seeing the value of immigration and showcasing that Canada's problems existed before the high influx of immigrants, and how immigrants are a potential solution to Canada's problems. As a grad student, I'm researching climate communication, and how devastating climate-change related natural disasters are increasing rates of immigration. There is a sense of unease, especially with people viewing you as the problem in their countries, and I have had a couple of racist encounters in just the past 4 - 5 months.

[@thepostgradyear]

first time viewer here had to subscribe because of the maps haha

[@noodie75]

People have lived on this continent for 20,000 years. If there aren't people living somewhere there is a good reason. And, if Southern Ontario was a State it would be the 5th most populous. Canada is not sparsely populated it's largely uninhabitable. Big difference.

[@morbital]

Correction: The USA is not our only neighbour anymore as we now share a land border with Denmark (Greenland) on Hans Island!

[@KevinMcFlying]

Nobody cares

[@lionelhutz5137]

@@KevinMcFlying yet, here you are replying to his statement 🤔

[@MrAlen6e]

Technically Greenland too

[@brianirwin5296]

The section on healthcare that starts at 3:36 is a perfect example of how someone from outside an organization can come in with fresh eyes and make observations and ask sensible questions that are otherwise heretical for locals.

[@camdickie]

What a wonderful video. Made me feel hopeful about my beautiful home country for the first time in a long time. Thank you for your perspective. Please keep your perspective, we need more canadians like you.

[@user-ie4tt1xp7j]

You're absolutely correct in the sense, that troubles were here for long enough, it's just people didn't pay attention.

[@888ettio]

Engagement!

[@tristanridley1601]

Apparently doesn't do anything any more.

[@jefftee7354]

I've said it before, but I'll say it again. How the hell is your sub count not 10+X what it currently is?! Top shelf content.

[@evansilva3045]

Last thing Canada needs is more people, screw off with that

[@johnnyboyvan]

Go home!! Lol 😆 How do we define affordable? A one bedroom condo here in Vancouver is 900k now in Kitsilano.

[@keithtonkin6959]

So similar to New Zealand but on a different scale. I don't see the similar scale in homelessness here however but then I don't live in Auckland but in a place similar in relative scale to Biggar in Alberta (couldn't help but notice that town and its name from the train last year)

[@tristanridley1601]

To a degree, smaller scale makes housing simpler. A city under 500k people can function with everyone driving. A city over a million literally can't, even with unlimited license to sprawl and pave. That doesn't mean the issues don't exist there, or are even easier. It just keeps the complexity down. I do envy your relative population compared to your oversized neighbour, and your distance from the USA.

[@jasonriddell]

to be "fair" Canada has a housing / homeless crisis in 2 areas and MOSTLY none in the OTHER regions Vancouver / Toronto both "world class" cities have MILLION+ dollar apartments and homeless camps under bridges and BOTH of these cities have a MAJOR land issue with a LIMITED access to ground due to water and mountains in the way so the directions they CAN sprawl is LIMITED far more then Sydney Australia OR large American cities greater vancouver has housing 100 KM away from the CBD of Vancouver I live in a city of 800 thousand and a home here can be had for $200K CDN and from the city edge to the CBD is 20 minutes NON rush hour by car but it is a Prairie town that can and DID expand in every direction

[@keithtonkin6959]

I know lack of population creates problems like less services etc. eg NZ has very little public transport but for me personally the advantages of a low population far outweighs the disadvantages. Every time I'm in a large city (more than a million) I look forward to getting out again within a few days. Traffic noise, pushing through crowds, queueing etc very rapidly get me very agitated and feeling like I'm in a very unhealthy place. I should look up life expectancy, satisfaction etc statistics comparing urban and rural people in western nations.@@tristanridley1601

[@RoboJules]

While we could support a hundred million people, it's key to note that the vast majority of the country is completely inhospitable, even by Canadian standards. Half of the country is made up of exposed rock that is completely useless for farming, and anything north of Edmonton is too cold to grow any substantial crops. That leaves parts of the Maritimes, the Saint Lawrence valley, Southern Ontario, the parries, the peace river basin, the mountain valleys of BC, and some areas on the coast of BC and Vancouver Island as the only arable land in the country. This still leaves us with more arable land than Ukraine or Argentina, but it does mean that we'll always have more concentrated population centers near agriculturally viable areas and existing metropolitan regions. I'm okay with high immigration numbers as long as our government gets its s*** together when it comes to housing, infrastructure, transportation, and services. At the moment, they're failing so hard that we can barely handle 10k new immigrants, let alone a million. We need to build out this country in order to support these numbers.

[@jasonriddell]

every country has high density and near NO density that is the "natural" way for places to grow and 100K spread across ALL the cities is MORE then do able outside of Vancouver / Toronto and those regions would sprout NEW towns out in the exurbs IE Fraser valley towards HOPE BC new build suburbs around the prairie towns could go heavy on modern "plex" type developments OR semi detached / row home configuration and easy get a 4X on density plus "TOD" style developments on extended existing metro lines if we are at 40 K we need to triple the population for 120K so 2.5X to 3X is not impossible for most of the cities in Canada to accept assuming fundamental systems gets the proper attention

[@mariannerichard1321]

Although the line is quite steep on the immigrant graph, my understanding is it's just catching up from the pandemic, as immigration dossiers slowed down in the mess. They kind of all get through in a short time, but it will probably slow down to the historical average within the next 3 years, regardless to what politicians will or will not do. It could be healthy to take note and put in place some mechanisms to prevent this kind of surge after systemic chocks, even though they don't come around often. The fact that Australia had the same curve show forces independent of Canada's policies alone. As for the ideal number of population for Canada, I would say 50M like South Korea would already be good enough, but 60M would place Canada more solidly among the G7 midweight like France, UK and Italy (because yes, Canada is the only lightweight at the moment). 100M thought, it sounds a bit like an overreach. But before we even think to get these numbers, the Canadian population will need to disperse more over the territory. If you look at France and UK, you have 1 10M+ city, then 7 smaller ones between 1 and 3 millions. Germany has 2 at 5M, then 12 between 1 and 3M. Canada has 2 about 5M cities and 4 between 1 and 2M, Québec City and Winnipeg at 800k which could possibly pass above the million in the second half of the century. But that would need so much more foresight than what every level of government has shown in the last decades, so 50M Canadian about 2075 is probably the most realistic forecast.

[@rebeccawinter472]

The challenge is that Immigration is a federal responsibility and they’re approving people based on their professional credentials. Each profession - like physicians or nurses or engineers will have their own Provincial licensing board. In order to unlock that Canadian exceptionalism, I think we need more federal control over licensing for health professionals, at least. It would let there be more transferability for providers across the country to places where needed and also help integrate newcomers by creating standards that apply across all Provinces.

[@IgorTr]

Largely agree with your points here, but I think there is a bit of a contradiction in the arguments too. If we just get the immigrants we NEED rather than WANT, we are not going to be growing as quickly. It just doesn't seem that there are all that many highly skilled people that would want to come here, especially with the worsening cost of life issues. Besides economic concerns, I think the recent spike in immigration is also having people question the trade-offs that come with high immigration in terms of culture. All immigrants change their host country in some way, and for people who like Canada more-or-less as it is, are not going to want to see Canada become more like the countries where we're getting lots of immigrants from. This is happening at the same time that our immigration policies also seem to be very uninterested in having newcomers join into a common Canadian identity, instead funding programs that seek to foster people holding on to their original culture, rather than integrating.

[@tristanridley1601]

I think a big part of the problem is who we're inviting these days. We focus on grabbing the rich or well educated. Seriously just having enough money gets you in. When you welcome refugees (whether political or economic) they are glad to be welcome and tend to embrace their new home. Rich immigrants have the same arrogant entitlement as the home grown rich. Personally I think we'd be better off just letting anyone in who answered yes to "do you want to live in a place where racism and prejudice aren't welcome, and can you work in construction?"

[@jasonriddell]

@@tristanridley1601 I see a "lot" of racial issues from immigrant communities wanting to force change in Canada - look to the muslim issues in Quebec where the "majority" were NOT wanting the new comers to practice the way they did back home and tried to BAN there clothing in public lots of "resentment" to south asian ghetto's in Vancouver and Toronto that are so NON welcoming to the "base population" around them

[@MrAlen6e]

The issue is policy regarding both integration in regards to both locals and new Comers is not there. The fact of the matter is Canada also is dealing with a loneliness and mental health crisis people just seem no to want to interact with one another this creates issues as even if you like to integrate with your community that community itself doesn't want to add new people so those newcomers just end up creating their own circles defeating the purpose of integration. Canadian identity also suffers from its lack of acknowledge of their own domestic issues like reconciliation with the indigenous population, many newcomers see similarities in the way their own native populations were treated and how there's just refusal by many to integrate indigenous institutions and culture into the main Canadian society.

[@somethingsomething404]

I’m all for immigration but we NEED to build more housing first. Canadians have freedom of travel so as nice as it would be to direct immigration to the empty parts of the country, everyone wants to live in Toronto Vancouver or Montreal. Vancouver needs to get building like Burnaby. All of Canada needs to get building like Burnaby. People should be afraid that housing prices will fall. That would be amazing for the country, just not for those trying to pull up the ladder behind them

[@somethingsomething404]

And I say that as someone with an ocean view in downtown Vancouver and an international student roommate(renting the bedroom of my 1br while I live in the living room) I’m poor, don’t get me confused, I just lucked out with this place during Covid

[@user-zj9tl5tr2o]

I agree with some of this, not all. Population growth needs to be carefully measured against needs of existing residents and the environment and shouldn't be done as part of an "economic ponzi scheme." Help the world's poorest and most vulnerable, is a great thing.

[@MrAlen6e]

It practically is , the idea is to maintain services, with low population and high retirees needing resources it will need people working to maintain services.

[@jasonriddell]

there is one MAJOR FLAW that was missed in this video and every other one about immigration and that is worker productivity Canada has a LOWER productivity then the USA and is the major part why we are "poorer" as a whole then the USA high IMMIGRATION both "masks" and causes this issue first it masks it because GDP numbers keep climbing so it is all "good" except everyone is getting poorer as wages are NOT keeping up immigration offers a large pool of "low cost" workers for companies to hire and NOT SPEND capital in buying the "tools" to allow the existing workers to be more productive as it is cheaper to hire MORE then to make the ones you have "better" I AM NOT saying to cancel immigration BUT it is an issue that is being ignored - at the cost of Canadians new and OLD

[@chachatheone1]

Well exposed. As an immigrant in Canada from 2011 and now Canadian. I see exactly what you mean. Great video!

[@andrelukin6364]

the idea that immigration is good for the country is based (at least partly) on the "growth mind" and the concept that the growth is good. The questions I have, aren't we wrong when thinking that growth can go forever? Do we actually need unstoppable growth (economically, in population e.tc.). Is it sustainable? Do we actually need all these people if AI will take, most likely, significant percent of the available jobs. I'm not so positive here. Japan is stagnant for decades now. They have very low (if any) number of immigrants. But standards of living are still pretty high. Yeah, no growth but not in such mess like USA or Canada or Australia and parts of Europe like Sweden and France that battling with large number of unintegrated immigrants.. Lots of questions...

[@jasonriddell]

Japan has a serious issue looming of elder care and are planning / expecting robots to replace the humans that are not available to do those jobs also there is the HUGE issue of population living longer in "post work" years needing MORE CARE and MONEY from the healthcare system with less and less people "paying into" the system via taxes

[@andrelukin6364]

@@jasonriddell it is true. And yet they do not open their borders and invest heavily in robotics.

[@MrAlen6e]

​@@andrelukin6364 you cannot compare Canada and Japan, culturally ,geographically economy are too different to compare the too. Japan infrastructure is concentrated, Tokyo alone has the entire population of Canada in one place. Canada in comparatively doesn't have the technology, the transportation infrastructure ( joke of railway systems ) and population is spread out. In the next years you will most likely see reforms in the pension system and Healthcare as with not enough working professionals to pay into the system it will become too expensive and unsustainable to maintain them .

[@roberthoople]

JINX!!! We said "high speed rail" at the same time!

[@geeceephd]

Just FYI Laurier is on our $5 note. Not our $100 note. Borden is the figure on the $100 bill.

[@leopoldleoleo]

Hear hear!

[@mikehimself9462]

Old song lyric, "Oh, you crazy fools don't you know you had it made? You lived in Paradise."

[@DotADBX]

The cons have proposed a blue seal registration program for immigrants so they can get jobs in the fields they studied when they were from their original country, its one of the major immigration policies that the cons have suggested that gets largely ignored even though it sounds like you could easily get these people preforming in these fields within 3 to 5 years on their own without any oversight.

[@thegreatest9282]

Like he mentioned it has to be done by the provinces and that is the whole problem with current cons blame everything provinces are breaking on trueadue

[@DotADBX]

@thegreatest9282 he's not wrong the provinces have the power to solve their own problems but don't.

[@neilirvine7129]

Worth pointing out - the City of Toronto (not the GTA) has 20% the population density of Paris. You could double it's density and still be half of Paris' - another 3 million people. And imagine the same density over the GTA. In addition, current condo building costs in Toronto are around $1,200 per sq ft. This ignores regulatory burden and holding costs - just buying land and building. Costs for wood framed townhouses are below $300 per sq ft. So you could do all this density with new townhouse housing at 25% of current condo prices.

[@ILovePancakes24]

Canada wants to be the US. But is ineffective.

[@fleodo2038]

100 millions hab in 2100 is in fact not an official objective of the gouvernement, but the one of the Century Initiative, but we know the LPC pretty liked this project. You can’t compare Canada with France and Italy who has ≈ 60 millions people because there is one main cultural identity in these two countries. Not in Canada. So, following this reflexion, if ROC wants to compete with the US it has to be 60m people without francophones parts of Canada. On the immigration culture, it’s changing because of the crazy number of immigration and the results we are seeing, as you shows in the second part of the vidéo.

[@jasonriddell]

would say Quebec at 60 MIL is the only way to have a "france" grade cultural presence as english Canada is SO BIG and diverse there is NO defining "CANADA" to it unlike places like the UK that more of less equals LONDON the USA does NOT have a "defining" culture and why hyphenated americans are common IE "Italian-American" being "AMERICAN" is meaningless as are you a "bostonian" / a NEW YORKER / A TEXAN ETC

[@fleodo2038]

@@jasonriddell you can’t compare the histoiry of Canada and the division between French and anglo with the différence between theses types of americans. There is no link. Don’t understand what you wanted to say in the first Line of the comment.

[@kartgal]

In the USA we have health insurance which we get through our work. It’s definitely worse than your healthcare system. But sometimes I think it’s inflated how bad it is relative to other countries. If you’re middle class, in general the healthcare can be afforded because most of it is covered by insurance. Just bouncing off what you said about how some middle class Canadians perhaps might get faster/better care in the us.

[@kartgal]

Wait you don’t have Amazon prime in Canada? 2 day shipping?

[@bobowon5450]

we have amazon prime but the two day shipping is pointless because they only guarantee that it will leave the warehouse in 2 days, could take 2 weeks to arrive

[@Troy112822]

Great video but missed the productivity crisis issue.

[@rajivmurkejee7498]

What's imortant is how much arable land not total land area

[@HuHWhat-yi8cp]

Is this a CBC production ?

[@wordcripple3174]

It's also hard to live in the cold(I live in Ontario and I hate it)

[@jjdtierney]

High speed rail has always been much more viable between Toronto and Montreal than politicians have made out. Canada just decided to underinvest in all it's infrastructure. Canada should just become part of the United States. Having a fixation on maintaining a high enough population to compete with the U.S. is dumb. Because of its cold climate, it takes a lot of energy just to maintain each Canadian. The carbon footprint of every Canadian is many times that of a person from a more temperate climate. Canada has destroyed itself by not giving a shit about the welfare of its own citizens. The government embarked on this insane plan to boost the population to 100 million by the end of the century, yet didn't build more housing. Meanwhile the Bank of Canada suppressed interest rates for two decades pricing a home out of reach of the average Canadian.

[@catherinemain-oster8513]

Well done Paige! You need to run for parliament!

[@AmazingDuckmeister]

"Businesses have always been the biggest backers of immigration" Proceeds to show pictures of old Canadian Pacific Railway adverts. Lovely! 😁

[@lynb1022]

Businesses are the biggest backers because it allows them to keep wages stagnant. No one will convince me that Tim Horton's needs immigrants, or that the real estate industry needs LMIA-approved realtors. It's preposterous, and just another back door to PR and/or a population of wage-slaves who don't know Canadian labour standards or their rights.

[@DerekKraan]

I love that CDPQi is now basically doing a "well if Montreal East doesn't want a REM, we'll build one where they do want it! (Taschereau REM)".

[@ylw]

O CANADA!!!!!!!!!

[@blahblahblah1696]

I'm curious as to how market forces can fix the family doctor shortage. I'm not denying that market forces can be valuable to healthcare in many other areas. But with family doctors in particular, aren't medschools the predominant reason for why there's a lack of them? Most medschools in the US and elsewhere in the developed world are majority publicly funded/run. The reason for why the US has more of them is simply because there is a larger population. I feel the much larger reason for why we have less family doctors is more due to how relatively sparse and unpopulated Canada was for a very long time. Take California for instance. They have 16 medschools and about the same population as the entirety of Canada. In Canada, if a doctor gets trained at a medical school in one province, because of how sparsely populated and huge Canada is again, its unlikely that they could serve patients in different provinces. Whereas in California because most major cities are at worst a few hours of driving away, it's much easier for each medschool to produce doctors that serve a much larger and more accessible portion of the population. Immigration can fix this current problem imo. Like you mentioned, we can easily increase the amount of family doctors by increasing the rate at which we certify immigrants who have that background. And higher immigration can even spur better transit connectivity projects which can lead to the development of greater metro areas. But one obvious thing our governments can do right now is just give more funding to medschools and create more of them. iirc Ford is already doing this and has promised to build more of them in the coming years. I don't see market forces as a proper solution because the scale of funding necessary to build and maintain medical schools naturally requires government intervention. Most medschools are lossmaking too (here and in America too). Well, there isn't really a tangible way to easily and accurately determine the ROI of a government policy like this in the same way you can't do so for stuff like primary education either. Like we can obviously see it in there being more doctors per capita, but its difficult to tell how much of those collective savings paid back the tax revenue which initially paid for these projects etc.

[@jake9764]

Paige, constant complaining about our country is the most Canadian thing imaginable. Happy to have you here, from one Canadian to another! 🇨🇦🇨🇦🇨🇦

[@user-uh8ic5vu1y]

You knew this already, but Canada has boxed itself into a corner - needs migrants but the economy (esp housing) is too far gone for migrants to want to come / stay potential migrants (say, all those Uni educated Aussie backpackers who fly in for a year or two each winter, starting at the ski resorts) love the place, love the people (ay, Bud) but won’t stay, - Canadian wages are low, taxes a bit high, and house prices impossible. Getting a start in Oz (decent wage, saving deposit to buy a house…) isn’t always easy, but at least it’s not ‘Canada’ impossible. No matter what, Vancouver’s $3m-$4m for a standard house isn’t going to drop (it might slow, maybe plateau…), not without a catastrophic hit to the Canadian mortgagor / banking system. So the migrants won’t / can’t stay. Interesting channel BTW. You knew that too:)

[@coocoo3336]

What a breath of fresh air. Still debating nimbies and anti-immigration people in vancouver so I get the feeling like Im tge only one who sees whats happening

[@Nakla]

So is this the reason why Canadas immigration is so high you can already call them little India Suggestions to solve some problems caused by high immigration are mostly more immigrants ^