Close Reading

Canadian here, born and bred in Toronto. Just where are you getting those housing prices for Canada $550,000 per house??! As I live very close to Toronto just to get into the housing market now you need at least $1 million Canadian. I think it down payment now is $50,000 or more. I don’t think you could find a house in Canada for $550,000 unless maybe a live weigh in the sticks maybe Tim or talk to Tuck and the northwest territories.\n\nI have visited America and, I definitely would rather live in Canada. No one is packing a gun here in Canada, unless you’re a criminal. I feel safe in Toronto even walking around at night time, can you see the same in the US?

The biggest impact on the declining economic productivity coincides with the Trump administrations trade war against Canada. They ripped up the previous trade agreement, and tabled a new one that attempted to devour Canadian industry. No one ever talks about this, and it's unfortunate. That coupled with the pandemic, resulted in a one-two punch to the Canadian economy. On top of that the amount of investment into automation in the energy sector over the past 10 years has reduced the demand for labour. And now with the ever expanding encroachment of AI on nearly every industry, the Canadian economy is facing an uphill battle. Many think that a prime minister is the main reason, when it's not. Canada is at the whim of US economic policy, which I fear is going to get even worse when Trump returns to office. A transition to Conservatives at the Federal level may lighten the load on a few things like Carbon Tax, and Income Tax (maybe), but they won't be the party to introduce limitations and regulations on investors that are responsible for driving up housing prices, by treating the housing market like it's a stock exchange. \nI will applaud Trudeau on winning over the EV battery plant, for pulling us out of bombing Syria and Iraq, for legalizing Marijuana, and for including Dental Care in health coverage (albeit limited...), but some of his decisions should have been better thought through, like the capital gains tax, and should only be targeting investors that have more than 3 properties. While he increased the budget for the Military, he's spent his first two terms ignoring it and that's severely hampered our readiness, and equipment. And while I do think we needed to boost immigration to stave off economic disaster, the current level that its at is problematic, and many bad faith actors are taking advantage of it and enriching themselves like the diploma mills.

Becaused they listen to stupid lies from a scheming government. What did they all think they could increase the population by 1/3 over 20 years and prices wouldnt go up? That housing wouldnt become an issue? That there wouldnt be enough firefighters or fire stations yo support the needs of all these new people? They come here specifically to not assimilate and make a mini version of the country they just fled. Because yhey were told it was better here so istead of acting like canadians they bring their same customs and attitudes here because it worked so well for them in their country right? Definition of insanity. Or they are trying to assist them in making everyone poor. Either way they are either doing it maliciously or willfully igborant of the glaring issues they currently face because of their actions. Or i guess they will face after yhe government atops giving then ny tax payer money to subsidize everything for them

Who thinks indian population must be little controlled, it is also causing problems to other countries, and their country people cannot afford houses in their own country because our people keep settling there, even indians are struggling to stay in india due to high prices, God help us❤, i think canada is right decreasing the percentage of migration, because they want to be in control and not any Canadians be homeless,. Please tell me if my thinking is wrong somehow

I lived, studied, and worked in Vancouver (5 years) I have seen the drug situation firsthand hand all the issues you guys mentioned are 100% TRUE, the recession, rising housing prices and rent, a bit of racism in the hiring system, and almost no hope of jobs after getting laid off I think I made the right decision to come back. Yes, there are a few good things but if you want to move JUST DON'T......

Harper broke the housing market when he adjusted the immigration rules in 2012.\nFrom 2012 onward the 50/50 split of economic/non economic migrants was over. From then onward, it would be 70% economic migrants. So already a direct contravention of equality unless disadvantaged(section 15 of the Charter).\n40% are thinking about moving due to high housing cost, well, when 20% more of them are now in the top 10% of monetary society... It follows that 40% would get priced out.\nI do not excuse the Liberals, they knew Harper said that those new 20% also had to have a 15-17 year old kid from 2012 to 2017, and they did nothing about the missing homes they'd continue needing.\nNo, Harper also did nothing about the new homes they'd need, he instead offered tax rebates for green energy retrofits, even further proving that Conservatives care only about those who already have money.

I always said that. There is an economic incentive for homeowners to have the housing prices go up. This is why i think polivier will have a tough battle. Its important to maintain the strength of the doller. Im in the construction industry so i will benefit from building more homes. Currently not homeowner so my financial incentive differs

I think housing prices is a problem pretty much worldwide

I moved to Canada last year, I repent now .. life was so easy in my country. I cannot think of buying 500 sft house here. The prices are skyrocketing , I cannot think of doing savings .. My life standard was much better back in my country. I think this Canada is thriving on immigrants money.. now that I already have spend my hard earned money from back home into Canada, I am now good for nothing , no use to this country.

Canada’s statistics are no different than Australia, USA and France for example in terms of homelessness and home ownership. Our foreign born population is about 20% -Australia it’s 22% - the USA the most immigrant fearing nation around has only 13% - that’s something to strive for lady!. \n\nCanada needs immigrants and lots of them to fill positions Canadian borns are too posh to do. \n\nWorld wide interest rates are high, housing developers are running into delays with things like world wide shortages and local communities having long convoluted permit processes, and volatile prices for home construction materials etc. \n\nWe Canadians are happy to buy from Chinese and USA manufacturers to the point we depend yet again on global markets. \n\nThe bottom line is the Provinces have authority over housing and haven’t wanted the Federal Government to butt in at all. It’s something that we have CMHC for mortgages and assistance to developers - but where are the developers? Not enough profit these days is there. \n\nI think we the people have failed in many ways. We need a scape goat and Trudeau is a very handy target. \n\nCanadians aren’t interested in repopulating by having more than one or two kids and so in order to sustain our economy and fill positions where do people think skilled and unskilled workers are coming from. Apparently being a nurse for example is not an occupation our children want nor do they want to clean toilets or work at Walmart or 7-Eleven. \n\nWe love shopping at Walmart with all its cheap Chinese goods and refuse to shop local businesses. \nWe get what we deserve. Yup, blame it on Trudeau! \n\nHa ha As if the Conservatives will do better! That’s the biggest joke of all

I moved to Canada since 2007. Overall, I am happy with Canada. I think a lot of new immigrants has unrealistic expectations of coming to Canada. I started renting a room in a house sharing the bathroom and kitchen with other tenants. But look at the new immigrants today, they all start living in nice condos. Condo rental price back in 2008 is also expensive compared with the income level back then. Sure, today’s market is more expensive, but what is not? But looking at the stock market, you don’t expect to buy Amazon stock at 2008 price level, are you? If Toronto is too expensive, then move to more affordable locations, eg. PEI.

Some of the stats cited here are straight up wrong or... creatively employed, and there's a lot of contradictory information and the typical conservative 'the sky is falling' sensationalism and misattribution. That said, the bas supposition isn't wrong. The bubble we've been sitting on for 20 or so years has completely burst. As someone born and raised in the Toronto area, it's impossible for me to afford to own a house or apartment here on a teacher's salary. Even rent pushes me to the limit unless I want to live in a... less than nice area. I'm living hand to mouth and enjoying the benefits of living in a 'developed' country less. Here's why:\n\n1. Wages aren't really even close to keeping up with the cost of living. The first tick upwards a bit. The second just keeps rising on the back of housing, food, amenities, and inflation: the four horsemen.\n\n2. Our grocery cabal ruthlessly raise prices whenever we look away, and their lobbyists are all ensconced within the leadership of our three major parties, particularly the Conservatives (so if anyone thinks that electing them will help, they're in for a nasty surprise).\n\n3. We're experiencing 'labour shrinkflation': increasing duties are downloaded onto workers and more is expected: more productivity, more availability (almost 24/7 in some jobs), and higher qualifications. Meanwhile, real wages are decreasing relative to living cost, more positions are 'contract', which is basically a way for employers to not have to give you benefits, and job security is tenuous for a lot of people.\n\n4. Houses are being bought by investors and not owners. Foreign entities are money laundering. The wealthy upper crust of high population countries are moving here and buying property because Canada is (still) more safe and stable and less repressive than their home countries in most cases. \n\n5. There's a cycle beginning: as people are squeezed and forced to spend more on 'needs', they spend less on eating out, entertainment, and other 'wants'. These are significant drivers of the service economy and they're being hit hard. So, what can they do? They can let go of workers or lower product costs to remain profitable, but they their quality declines and, in a market where people are pinching every penny and looking for quality for their dollar, they're less likely to go back. They can raise their prices, of course, but then they price people out completely and their profits still tank. I went to a decent steakhouse for my dad's 60th last week. I can't remember the last time that I went to one before that. \n\n6. Our politicians and news cycles focus on the most niche and irrelevant stuff because it'll stoke anger and get tongues wagging. This carbon thing is almost a non-issue, but our conservative leader is harping on about it like it's singlehandedly the death of the Canadian economy when it's a drop in the bucket. Trudeau focuses on 'equity' measures, hoping for a bit of cheap good press, while his efforts are, for the most part, just window dressing and the issues, while meaningful, are often not of paramount importance or even applicable to the vast majority of the people who elected him. Meanwhile, the middle class is pretty much evaporating as he speaks. The NDP keep talking about this in a pretty real way, for what it's worth, but Jagmeet Singh is giving off an increasing vibe of just being another fat cat politician beneath his rhetoric these days. Also, third-party trolls and screeching conservatives try to bury him on social media whenever he speaks... a lot more than other leaders as well, oddly. I wonder why? Oh yeah, the Greens exist and there's Quebec and the conspiracy theory party.\n\n\nUltimately, what we're experiencing is the revenge of the feudal system. Instead of paying rents to your lord and doing labour on the land for him whenever commanded to, you pay rent to your landlord now and go to work even when you're sick or when work hours are over because you have no union protection or are working 'on contract'. Unless we want to live in the armpit of nowhere, 95% of us are going to be wage slaves living hand-to-mouth, not owning our own property, and working to please our corporate overlords if current trends continue unchecked. While some of Canada's problems are unique, I fear that most aren't. As for me, I'm headed to the 'armpit of nowhere' where I can at least have a ghost of a chance of affording life.

There's hundreds of YouTube posts online precisely like this post. \nI'm not going to get into how long my family's been in Canada . Because it comes off as like a bragging or a snobbery and I don't go for that. I just want to put it out there Canada is not a destination for purely economic exploitation. \nIt's a place you know for people who I saw people from the former Yugoslavia comment online. Their parents were extremely happy to get out of there in the 90s.. you know they left in the 90s and it's what 2024 . First sight of hard economic Times they decide to pick up and go. \nYou know not a lot of loyalty. But I think you're going to be happier going back home for skin is a free country or free to do that and I wish you all the luck \nLet's see 2 weeks ago I had an accident at work I got four stitches in my scalp I was in and out of emergency in 5 hours which I thought was reasonable.. last week of came down with stomach flu and went to the walk-in clinic it opened at 9:00 I was at 9:15 I waited 10 minutes saw the doctor . I live in Calgary Alberta Canada which is the third or fourth biggest city of Canada experiencing record migration into the town so yeah there's big pressure on new housing. \nI just like to put it out there that I love California and raised lots of generations here not a fanatical American now you know Canada first kind of you know raw raw patriotic Canadian. You know I love my country I'm proud of it proud of my answers and all the couple hundred years of hard work they put in it you have to make this country livable for extremely cold Northern geographic location.\nNow I have a large extended family Oliver Canada the United States Mexico Australia New Zealand parts of Africa England Ireland Scotland Denmark France. \nI've been very fortunate to be able to keep up with this huge family especially because of the internet now. \nSo I keep we talk regularly online and we do business with each other a little bit and some of the countries and Canada's doing reasonably well regarding the job market cost of living and you know those sorts of things. \nYou know we've gone through covid pandemic whatever you want to call that shut the economy down for a couple years worldwide. The worst mistake during the pandemic lockdown in Canada was the government shoveling out free money and people reinvesting it back into their real estate. So you have billions of Canadians locked out of their jobs big shovel taxpayer money and they all just started renovating their homes. To the point where sheets of plywood were you couldn't find them and they went up 100 times and price. Solo's hundreds of billions of dollars that the government's going to take back and taxes from us all draw the cost of housing through the roof. Instead of at the time redirecting half of those two it was 500 billion take a half of that investment in putting it into infrastructure technology innovation for industries. Our education systems from kindergarten through to postsecondary education and spending it on the Canadians that were here. We've turned our post-secondary institutions in Canada into diploma Mills where you know your VA and your you know postgraduate degrees or you know they're worthless. However the government and the education system grew into a very profitable industry grinding out worthless degree after worthless degree for foreign students who thought when they got these degrees with 50% of Canadians have. People have to realize that post-secondary education is a big business so they're going to sell you a dream that's going to cost you a lot of money what I suggest is when YouTubers want to do something on Canada do some proper research let people know that we really do have quality post-secondary education system but you have to look at when you graduate those jobs going to be there to pay that large salary does White collar jobs are disappearing almost gone I purchase an app for my company with small company about 10 employees this inexpensive app alone has taken my office staff from 7: to 2: I have a 10 Red seal tradesman tradeswomen these 10 highly skilled trades people earn between 125 and 145,000 a year in gross salary and I need five more of these highly skilled people and I can't find them cuz everybody's running in to get a useless postgraduate degree. I do find it slightly offensive that a lot of new immigrants new Canadians immigrate to Canada to purely exploit it for its wealth Canada should be looked at as a place to come put your hard work in the struggles the ups and downs? and look at it as your home instead of you know a piggy bank but people are going to leave and there's a long line up to get in I've seen in my 40 year career you know three major reps and three major downs. What's happening in Canada's economy and the economies around the world it's all the same the US economy's doing quite well and talked to last couple of weeks friends that have invested their and families have been there long-term at present the United States is building a war economy so there's money pouring into that effort it does have a booming you know Hi-Tech boom as well however the tech boom is offshore with American companies and it's taking place in a part of the world that no one would think it would take place so if your graduate in the tech industry go online do a little research you'll find out where it is the USA is building a huge chip factories I think they just poured in 70 or 80 billion dollars we're in a transitioning economy don't get discouraged put your head into it do your homework find out where these new jobs are coming from which jobs are not going to be here. Traditional White collar you know middle management upper management jobs they've been gone for years everyone's think of themselves as an independent contractor. Also if you're a millennial or was a gen z person there's going to be a massive transfer of wealth over the next 20 to 30 years as baby boomers simply die off and then you guys are going to inherit their money I live in any one of the g7 economies I just got to find your niece with your qualifications and get in there and innovate because there's not one g7 country that significantly doing better than anyone else another interesting part of the world is East Africa I'm retiring there in 5 years I've already done my homework I've already got partners I've already started to train up people there in East Africa Canada and those parts of the world they have East Africa's great basic infrastructure so now that they've got their first level base of infrastructure a second economy is built off at the service that basic infrastructure that basic infrastructure allows for that second layer a bigger layer of investment you know and that's where the real money is for mid-level investors and you know highly educated Young westerners have got 10 years into their respective careers and these are also very beautiful countries you know so you can if you got family in Canada family in Europe India Asia you know you can start building networks collaborate on projects you know in these you know emerging economies you know mid-level economies but that's you know a good 20-year grind to get good at your career and build your confidence to go into these places and get these things done also you know it's a great life adventure but never expect just because you have an advanced degree that the door even come knocking down your door to employ you if you're going to wait for the opportunity to come to you you're going to be waiting forever you got to take your advanced degrees get out there and hustle and work hard man Canada's doing fine about four or five years it's you know it's going to take off next level and it's going to boom for 40 years and it's never going to get any cheaper in g7 countries Amy's emerging economies his pockets around the world they're starting to come up to in the window to get into these emerging economies with your advanced degrees it's closing if you don't make it if you don't start looking at it in the next 5 years your degrees are going to be gone useless and if you do decide to put your career in these emerging economies like Asia South America Central America Africa do it for the right reasons not just for money we don't want to make the same mistakes as like the industrial Revolution where a few people get rich and the people in that country you know don't get anything have respect for these countries employ their people and you have to get into these places before all the big corporations get set up there cuz they're they're going there Canada's a great place as a great time free medical system and I urge anybody that's feeling down or depressed in Canada you know to go get some therapy join some clubs talk to people don't get down and mostly don't you know don't give up on yourself you guys made it through you know Elite post-secondary education system and if you can if you can do that I mean you can you can do anything a lot of hard work ahead truly best of luck to all you guys

Trudeau is destroying our country… It’s so sad as for political reasons Trudeau decided his only way of increasing GDP growth was by allowing even more new immigrants into Canada. You can see the GDP increase while the GDP per capital decreased…\n\nNo wonder our housing costs are so high, you can’t magically increase housing supply at the rate in which immigration has gone into hyperinflation along with the hyperinflation in housing, food cost, energy costs… Trudeau has been destroying Canada, you can’t keep bringing in skilled new immigrants and not expect the cost of labour to decrease… \n\nCanada has only been holding on because America enjoys outsourcing some highly skilled jobs to Canada, as the cost of our labour is so incredibly cheap, because of our artificially depressed labour costs do to our specific immigration policy… Our immigration policy incentivized those with more education and work experience to be accepted into Canada… Seriousky what your seeing more and more of is rich new immigrants to Canada using us as simply a place to store wealth, launder money, increase Canadian asset prices, then use Canadian citizenship, or Permanent Residency as a springboard into getting into the USA… It’s so sad to watch my country destroy itself through horrible policy, and the complete ambivalence of our elite to the problem…People often forget just how monopolistic major Canadian companies are, and just how corrupt and nepotistic our politics are… Incoukd vent for days about how Trudeau has been destroying Canada… It sucks because for the most part the well educated, polite , and overall just good people who arrive as new immigrants to Canada have been amazing people to meet and make friends with, but I see the stress that everyone is feeling, and the resentments that can fester if not discussed out in the open… I hate to see conflicts between those born in Canada, those who have become new Canadians, and those who just landed here! We need to have some open and honest discussions about the future of Canada, because what Trudeau is doing is making every major issue within Canada worse! I don’t think you could intentionally do more damage than Trudeau already has!

What are you complaining about? Housing prices is a GLOBAL problem, not just Canada. Stop thinking you're so unique.

If you think that the conservatards are going to lower housing prices, I have a nice brand-new Champlain bridge to sell you (with a nifty electric train on top of it)!\n\nVoting for the NDP will lower housing prices, because it will send all the speculators skedaddling the fuck out of Canada!

Can you please share your sources? I think framing immigration as a major factor for increased housing prices might be misleading. I've read from a few other sources that the impact from immigration is quite minimal in comparison to other major factors.

The GOVT WONT solve this problem because if they actually meet the 5M new houses target and the housing becomes more affordable, imagine what happens to the cost of the existing houses and the loans that go along with it! Many people have just bought houses at 3X the asking prices thinking they can sell it 5 yrs later and never actually to pay it off, all those people will be screwed and in banks will be screwed in return. This huge immigration was just to strengthen the vote bank and not really to improve the economy of the country. It's a very old political strategy and people still get fooled and vote for it. Liberal parties just openly encourage immigration to just get a good vote bank and stay in power. Best of Luck Canada!

Most of what was reported here is true but the housing market and rents have skyrocketed all over the world since the Chinese government F'd everyone with Covid-19. At first there were supply chain issues with all goods so businesses said we have to increase prices. Once supply issues were back to pre-Covid-19 levels businesses did not & will not lower their prices on goods because , we as a society do not take matters into our own hands and boycott products\\company's etc. Now obviously we cannot boycott all goods & services but the majority we could and that is the only thing that would cause action among companies to lower bank fees, fast food prices, grocery prices, cell plan costs etc.\n\nWith that said, you picked two of the highest and most sought after city's in CAN to rent & or try to buy a home. Although rent & home prices have really jumped all over the world in the past 3-4 years, more affordable (still not cheap) housing, compared to Toronto, Vancouver, can be found all across CAN. My sister & brother in law found an apartment to rent in Winnipeg without any difficulty or waiting. \nThey are immigrants and entered on her student Visa & he is a computer programmer. They are not struggling to eat but they have to follow a tight budget since she cannot work but 20 hours a week as a student and they have 1 kid, a car payment,utilities, cell plan, etc. They have filed for their PR and I suspect they will be approved since his job is in demand and she will graduate from College there in 4 months or so.\n\nOne thing I noticed, when my wife & I went up to get them settled in, is that the government (national & local) taxes you all pay out of the wazzoo on everything! I think the only thing that wasn't taxed was air. ? I know most of this is due to the healthcare system, because the money has to come from somewhere. Don't misunderstand, I like the CAN healthcare system better than the US's, because the insurance companies stick it to us as well, but both have their pluses and minuses.\n\nCAN does have a much easier system for immigration. If my sister & bro in law could have come here we would have been glad for them to stay with us and help them get started but the backlog is just so long to wait (10 + years). I also LOVE CAN because you uphold your laws and DEPORT illegal immigrants instead of letting them pour into the Country, by the millions each year, and the majority eventually trickle into the population illegally, who get jobs & pay no taxes (other than sales tax) no driver's licenses or vehicle insurance and get 100% free medical and hospital care anytime while legal US citizen's pay high premiums, into social security and their income taxes each year.

I see your main point of housing being unaffordable. This is true though around the world, no matter if there is a liberal or a conservative government in place, so what has caused this surge in housing prices in the 2010s? I think it was the decade of very low interest rates after the financial crises at the end of the 2000s. I am afraid things will not go back to how they were before.

I have been working with immigrants in Ontario for 22 years. I have come to realize immigration is a racket to benefit the corporations and banks. Canada uses immigrants for cheap labour and to raise price of housing so property owners get richer. I will give you an example from my caseload to give you an idea of how bad its here now. I had two Ukranian families return to Ukraine!!! yes, you heard it right. They were doing so bad here they chose to return to Ukraine, a country at war. Please before you come to Canada, do your homework, think twice. My recommendation to you from my experience is please reconsider your decision to come to Canada at this time.

I grew up in Malton (borders Brampton) in the 1980's and it was all Western European and Canadian folks and it was great. Such a sense of community and everyone knew everyone. Us kids would stay out until the street lights came on and played in Parks. It was really safe. We moved away in 2006 because the area had gone such down hill by 1999 and the crime was horrible. Stolen cars, alcohol and drug abusing Punjabi folks and the domestic partner violence of the Indian men beating the crap out of their wives was insane. (I had a friend that was a Peel Region Police officer who ended up leaving because she couldn't take seeing it any longer). I have nothing against Immigration, because my dad was an immigrant, but I do have a problem with the amount of any one country we let in, and the types of people that we let in that contribute to crime and area degradation. It's so sad the slums that have become in Brampton and Malton since we left. I'm glad we got the heck out of there when we did. I feel sorry for all those that are stuck there still. Furthermore with such an influx of immigrants into one area it has driven the house prices and rent through the roof because the pace of immigration was nowhere near the housing starts, and cities think that everyone needs to be packed in like sardines and when you have that many people living in close proximity and you have such expensive living costs it's a disaster waiting to happen and it brings along with it tons of crime and drugs. The Trudeau government really messed up this country and the GTA Cities like Brampton are a shining example of that. It's sick that we pay as much as we do for government at all levels that are this idiotic. It's time we protested in the street and made the government at all levels fear the public again or it's never going to change.

Growing up in Brampton most of my life and now being able to travel for work I say let them have it. Brampton is over priced and over crowded. High crime rate. No night life. Only a handful of choices for cuisine. Canada is an enormous country and the real shame is not being able to move to another city as easy as it should be when a good for nothing one gets invaded the way Brampton has. I’m currently out in Woodstock and all the new houses in the north of the city is ALL Indians. On any nice day you’d think the neighborhood park is little India with all the aunties and uncles at the benches. The damage is done, this country’s immigration system needs a complete overhaul.

Trudeau is a perfect PM-\n China interference -he thinks it's ok!\nCarbon tax-more money in his pockets-\nThe We charity scandal-everything black out\nImmigrations - overload\nCrimes-catch and release in one day\nDrugs-Weeds stores are more then Tim Hortons-20,000 Canadians are dying of overdose\nArrive scam-60 million dollars don't know where the money goes from the 2 clowns\nHousing-triple the price-renting from 700/month-now 1500$\nInviting a Nazi into the house of common-he did not know\nStand behind democracy-yet he runs the country like China\nSupporting Ukraine-yet he claim the Russians will win the war!\nA perfect PM for our country everyone!

As someone living in Quebec I can confirm.. housing prices just seem unreasonable for someone with a modest income. pretty much had to keep living with family and pay them a rent that is liveble with.. Heard other people who can't count of family had to share single person appartments with friends and sometimes even random people in similar situation. Its honestly terrifying to think about potentially having no home despite getting a modest income..\nThe medical scene is probably a bit better but still not that great looking. Quebec had (dunno how it works in other provinces) a system of Family doctors that the medical system sort of relied on. yet there is barely no family doctors left. I can't buy the meds I need without a doctor giving me the prescription but I no longer have a family doctor for the last 5 years. I've been jumping through hoops and all just to get somehow to extend or give me another year of prescription.. I need those meds for life though....\nFood situation.. I guess sure the prices have increase but for the most part we(me and family) are still hanging on fine. However restaurents have gotten too pricy so we had to cut luxury out of our life.

Look I have NOTHING against Immigrants. But housing has been long ignored by all parties and now we can't even support our own population let alone new immigrants with somewhere to live. It's INSANE. Housing prices are absurd. We are doing immigrants wrong by telling them this is a great place to live. That's just false advertising. My city is super multicultural and I love that about it, but more and more I meet uber drivers that used to be professionals in their country. They're struggling here and it hurts to see that. They deserve better. We ALL deserve better. Something needs to change, and considering how much Galen Weston makes and the fact that the rich keep getting richer, I think we have the means to solve this problem. The CRA has done next to nothing to close tax loopholes. It's gross.

Nice video. I watched it as I like to learn from other perspectives.\n\nI was born in Toronto, and I must say, this “no time for life and fun” is a new thing. This lack of access to health care is a new thing. I agree with your assessment. It now seems lonelier in Toronto. \n\nCanada used to be different because anyone with a good job could afford at least a condo, but life became unaffordable not just for immigrants, but for everyone unless you are in your 50s-60s and own a home. \n\nI have friends working double jobs supporting family back home in other countries, but for some of them the family back home sound like they are doing better than them and own a home. It’s like they are sacrificing their life to be in poverty or full of hardships and their families get to go out for dinners and drinks with friends. Not them. Not true for everyone, but for some yes and I worry about their own retirement because retirement in Canada without lots of savings means you might be homeless or forced to live with family even if it’s not your preference. \n\n without investments and savings, it will be hard to beat inflation. Getting into debt and getting bad credit can mean not getting an apartment. \n\nThe birth rate is going down because it is expensive to have kids and income isn’t enough to match with living costs. Getting help from government is really not something everyone gets access too. One person might get housing support, 10 others may get nothing. Different governments offer different things. Programs end and change often. \n\nIn Canada definitely bargain and shop around for good phone plans. one idea is to get a pay as you go until “Black Friday” then every year or two when your good offer expires there will be many others. It’s the time with the best deals saving almost half. For instance, I have 50 gigs for $25 for two years from a large provider. Telephone companies are the one place where people must bargain and even ask for better deals as a must.\n\nThe people you see living in big houses, will have kids that can’t afford the same. This is because prices keep rising. The system protects the very rich, but will also drain the middle class often within 1-2 generations. Do not link your business to your personal finance, or creditors can take your home. Some not knowing this lose everything and rich people know better. \n\nPeople live until they are very old, so inheritance is pretty much meaningless to rely on, so no matter what your parents have you must hustle in life. \n\nI do think Canada can become what we want over time. Citizens need to fight the trend of great community spaces, restaurants and bars going out of business and dumb corporations move in with bad boring restaurants. Like a McDonald’s where maybe a popular cultural hang out was. \n\nPart of the problem is a lack of mixed income housing areas, so it’s hard to stay living where you grew up. Artists and musicians help make a city great, but many cannot afford to live here.\n\nFamilies and communities staying together means more support for those with young kids and older relatives when they need help. Yet how is this possible in a city that is always pushing out lower income people when wealthier people desire the area. \n\nIn Toronto, every time you move you have to take what is available and that might mean moving an hour away from everyone you know. This weakens communities. Plus, if you live too far from your work you will have no time to socialize for most the week due to travel time. \n\nI think those who grew up in Toronto do have a certain culture of acceptance with others from many cultures, because your friends at school were from all over. But with new migrants sometimes it isn’t until the second generation that their social circles get diverse. This can be isolating and it’s even isolating as those from Toronto eventually leave dreaming of staying in one spot and not forced to move constantly when a landlord investor sells every house you move into. \n\n\nToronto really needs to protect affordability of housing for at least some housing in every section so that people can save money if they live in the city, and not have to leave their communities and be far from their friends and family. \n\notherwise eventually people get sick of the hustle and it’s too tiring to travel 1+ hrs each way to visit someone during Monday to Friday. \n\n20 years ago any professional could at least buy a condo. Not today. There is too much competition now and investors are allowed to buy up all the most affordable housing that once was a pathway to owning a home. \n\nRich policy makers got greedy and destroyed canada and hopefully diversity in leadership will help make Canada better. But they perhaps people knew to Canada can reject this lonely structure and help us rebuild Toronto into an amazing place. \n\nWe need to make sure everyone can afford housing with 30% of their income. I think that will help

Oh i wasn’t expecting quebec to be thee no1 on this list but it’s nice to see it there im from greater Montreal\nIm not the bragging type but it feels nice to see it there especially that most people don’t fully appreciate the luck we have\nIt’s also funny to see that most people from outside say Montreal is amazing and people from around the city love to hate it for some reasons\nI must say that recent years have been hard cos of the consequences of the pandemic among other things which made the access to healthcare much harder than just a few years ago and also the prices of houses and rents have exploded since 2020 and the crime rate have raised in Montreal but not as much as cities cited in the video from the prairies \nI think its still a great place and safe place to live and we are lucky to be in that province and that country even though quebecois love to complain or as we say « chialer »

I feel like moving as a lifelong Canadian. I love people and love culture. I don't like extremists. \n\nMy problem is simply I don't our government is ethical nor caring to it's citizens, and as far as immigrants go, I am absolutely all for it with a reasonable rate without displacement or a negative sum on people that have built families here already. You can't just say we want to help and not give one thought about implications whatsoever. \n\nWhere I live you can't add thousands of people without thinking about making roards wider or more busses.\n\nWe don't look like idiots, we are. Let's welcome a host of new beautiful people into out country and not have a single plan in place besides pay for their housing (not necessarily bad), pay for their transportation (not necessarily bad), and allow a rent bubble to put our welcoming citizens with Trades to live in tents.\n\nHow about this as a sane alternative, the billions of dollars in road tax from gas prices which hasn't improved the roads, and the billions from legalized gambling...how about we audit our government and take a hard and difficult look as to where all this tax money goes, and more importantly the detailed justification? \n\nSame thing, same day. Canada has to be corrupt as the day is long OR our greatness was built on an history of lies. Take your pick.\n\nLet's hire as a people a 3rd party professional firm with oversight and give them 5 billion dollars, the amount we paid for helicopters and opted out for and still paid by backing out.\n\nThat thought alone should be brilliant enough to enlighten us all.

The homeless industrial complex to big to fail , the landlord elites have allowed all our politicians to become landlords even our housing minister is one so do you think they are flooding our country with foreign students and opening our borders to millions of migrants isn't to push housing costs to the moon so they can put more money in their pockets YOUR DAMB RIGHT , the same people that have lobbied for the soft on crime laws that are causing retailers to shutter their doors are buying up the properties at firesale prices including devaluing housing in the high crime areas then buying them all up , watch for plan B and that will be getting billions in government grants to use their properties to house all the homeless and feeding them through their online markets because there will be no brick and mortar stores WIN WIN for the elites who caused this insanity WAKE UP

Getting ill causing a month long stay in the ICU left me homeless as living paycheck to paycheck causes once the cheques stop , I was placed in a Toronto homeless shelter 3 years ago and I can tell you that African refugees enter a shelter and no more than 3 weeks later are housed usually 5 at a time all Getting a fully paid market value 1 bedroom apartment average price $2,600 monthly that with a monthly welfare cheque and free food dental medical prescriptions clothing WIN WIN WIN the Canadian born homeless shelter residents get put on a 38,000 name waiting list for Ontario's drug infested housing ghettos the Africans are being housed under a kept secret program called COHB secret from us Canadian homeless that is and I've witnessed this now at 5 different shelters I've been in, having befriended one of the African migrants who is a little unstable drinking alcohol and smoking pot so he hasn't been housed but he has shown me the paper work that has been housing his fellow illegal immigrants and I say illegal because they all came as visitors only to claim asylum as soon as they land he also told me they all borrow the money for their plane tickets from a gang who once they land and start instantly getting welfare have to send half the proceeds back to this gang in Africa for the next two years , in this shelter donated clothing comes in everyday and two African shelter residents fold and sort the clothing taking all the name brand clothes what they didn't hand out to the other Africans they walk to the post office and ship it back to Africa I'm not making this shit up after we complained to staff which also happen to be made up from the Africans themselves yes they've hired wolves to watch over the other wolves so they now aren't walking out the front door everyday with garbage bags full of clothes at least not in front of our eyes DON'T CALL ME RACIST I know that's the go to word when this insanity is made public , what do you think is the first thing these Africans do when they walk into their free apartment? Make phone calls back to the friends they left in Africa saying Get on the next plane to Canada free apartment free food free clothing free medication free dental and free money every month Canadians need not apply

Think about it - the hefty tax rates are essentially robbery. When you have the option of driving two hours and cross the border to work under a TN, why on earth would someone stay? The tax code here is so dumb. It does not foster a healthy market; it is a means for locals to rip off those with assets. But guess what? the smart, the intelligent and the rich will flee, leaving the mediocre, the lazy, the weak and the elderly on this soil. No wonder they whine about the housing prices all day long. Did it ever come to their attention that the housing price of Toronto is 1/3 or less than that of manhattan, SF, Beijing Hong Kong etc. it is a nation slaved by poverty thinking. Does it make any sense to limit foreigners buying homes in Toronto? This is foreign direct investment that benefits your damn economy, but you cant stand the whining of those who cant afford a home and banned it. of course you are gonna lose the capital. You raise tax again, squeezing more hard-working smart folks away. What a pity! Yes it is harsh. But this is what you get when you forget everything in economics and zero in on equality.

You have people who have close to minimum wage jobs who bought a house in the 90s or early 2000s and are winning the lottery with their home being worth 2 to 3 times what they paid for it. Along the years they took out equity and bought more places and are now millionaires. While this generation pays for student loans and comes out making about the same, adjusted for inflation, and can't buy a home. Everyone thinks their million dollar home that was 200k 20 yrs ago has the price justified. It's a pyramid scheme

I think before a student complains about housing, do your homework first. They knew what price you have to pay for free health care and freedom!!

Housing prices are so crazy that I just rent a room and six months per year go live in developing countries of Asia. My income in Canada is only 25K as a single retired person. No home. No car. No partner or family responsibilities. No job. Cook at home only. No alsohol or drugs.\n\nSo, there are solutions. GIS and living out of a suitcase. But I still think that spending $850 per month (33% of my income) is too high.\n\nBut besides money matters, I feel like a stranger in Canada as an old straight white man. Wokeness is extreme here. Taiwan does not radically change the demographics and promote weird ideas. If I want to be surrounded by Asians I can stay in Sulawesi. Train system? Yes, don't get me started. Public drug use!

I'm surprised by how much everyone promotes moving to Nova Scotia, given the housing shortage that has led to exorbitantly high rents, a one-bedroom apartment in an old building costs 1,600, and in new building costs 3,500 per month. And for three people I pay 85 dollars of electricity every two months. Internet is 105 dollars per month. Professional salaries barely cover rent, food, and car expenses, as they are quite low, often ranging between $50,000 and $60,000 for positions requiring 5 to 10 years of experience, and sometimes even lower. Before you even see your paycheck, expect at least 30% to be deducted for taxes, as calculated by a Nova Scotia tax calculator. The healthcare system is struggling; last year, joining a list to be assigned a family doctor was estimated to take up to three years. For those seeking care at walk-in clinics, you must arrive before 7 am and wait in line; they only see the first 15 people, typically just on Mondays. If you're last, you might wait until noon or later to be seen. After working for 40 years, the pension is approximately $1,200, or less if you haven't worked the full duration with salaries over 60,000. \n \nI forgot to mention that prices in stores are without an additional 15% tax, you should add that to every product or service you purchase. If you want to go to a restaurant, an economical one, and buy a lasagna and something to drink, it will cost you at least 70 dollars. McDonalds and Tim Hortons, for three people, may cost 40 dollars, but it is your health. \n \nThe government is investing millions to attract students and new immigrants, making labor significantly cheaper for large companies. Individuals with low wages can't even afford the cheapest rent, resulting in some living in tents across cities and towns in Nova Scotia. With an annual inflation rate of 15% to 25%—and the official rate reflecting only a detailed list of products deemed as basic food items by the government—only the minimum wage is legally required to increase when deemed appropriate by the government. Other wages increase only if the employer decides to do so. How often do they do this out of kindness to their employees? That's a good question. \n \nYour work experience in other countries does not count. They want people with Canadian experience, so it is better to think you will start with a 35,000 salary per year. A house cost between 450,000 to 2,500,000. When are you going to save to pay for a house? The cheapest ones can be 200 years old. A 100 m2 apartment, new, not very elegant but nice, can cost more than 2 million dollars in downtown Halifax. People say it is due to money laundry, and for sure is not because the medium class is buying them. \n \nI have many friends, who graduated from Canadian colleges and universities that haven't gotten a job in their career even after four years of graduation... and the list is longer. Please, be honest with people

I'm surprised by how much everyone promotes moving to Nova Scotia, given the housing shortage that has led to exorbitantly high rents, a one-bedroom apartment in an old building costs 1,600, and in new building costs 3,500 per month. And for three people I pay 85 dollars of electricity every two months. Internet is 105 dollars per month. Professional salaries barely cover rent, food, and car expenses, as they are quite low, often ranging between $50,000 and $60,000 for positions requiring 5 to 10 years of experience, and sometimes even lower. Before you even see your paycheck, expect at least 30% to be deducted for taxes, as calculated by a Nova Scotia tax calculator. The healthcare system is struggling; last year, joining a list to be assigned a family doctor was estimated to take up to three years. For those seeking care at walk-in clinics, you must arrive before 7 am and wait in line; they only see the first 15 people, typically just on Mondays. If you're last, you might wait until noon or later to be seen. After working for 40 years, the pension is approximately $1,200, or less if you haven't worked the full duration with salaries over 60,000. \n \nI forgot to mention that prices in stores are without an additional 15% tax, you should add that to every product or service you purchase. If you want to go to a restaurant, an economical one, and buy a lasagna and something to drink, it will cost you at least 70 dollars. McDonalds and Tim Hortons, for three people, may cost 40 dollars, but it is your health. \n \nThe government is investing millions to attract students and new immigrants, making labor significantly cheaper for large companies. Individuals with low wages can't even afford the cheapest rent, resulting in some living in tents across cities and towns in Nova Scotia. With an annual inflation rate of 15% to 25%—and the official rate reflecting only a detailed list of products deemed as basic food items by the government—only the minimum wage is legally required to increase when deemed appropriate by the government. Other wages increase only if the employer decides to do so. How often do they do this out of kindness to their employees? That's a good question. \n \nYour work experience in other countries does not count. They want people with Canadian experience, so it is better to think you will start with a 35,000 salary per year. A house cost between 450,000 to 2,500,000. When are you going to save to pay for a house? The cheapest ones can be 200 years old. A 100 m2 apartment, new, not very elegant but nice, can cost more than 2 million dollars in downtown Halifax. People say it is due to money laundry, and for sure is not because the medium class is buying them. \n \nI have many friends, who graduated from Canadian colleges and universities that haven't gotten a job in their career even after four years of graduation... and the list is longer. Please, be honest with people

I am glad someone is honest about the problem.\n\nI'm surprised by how much everyone promotes moving to Nova Scotia, given the housing shortage that has led to exorbitantly high rents, a one-bedroom apartment in an old building costs 1,600, and in new building costs 3,500 per month. And for three people I pay 85 dollars of electricity every two months. Internet is 105 dollars per month. Professional salaries barely cover rent, food, and car expenses, as they are quite low, often ranging between $50,000 and $60,000 for positions requiring 5 to 10 years of experience, and sometimes even lower. Before you even see your paycheck, expect at least 30% to be deducted for taxes, as calculated by a Nova Scotia tax calculator. The healthcare system is struggling; last year, joining a list to be assigned a family doctor was estimated to take up to three years. For those seeking care at walk-in clinics, you must arrive before 7 am and wait in line; they only see the first 15 people, typically just on Mondays. If you're last, you might wait until noon or later to be seen. After working for 40 years, the pension is approximately $1,200, or less if you haven't worked the full duration with salaries over 60,000. \n \nI forgot to mention that prices in stores are without an additional 15% tax, you should add that to every product or service you purchase. If you want to go to a restaurant, an economical one, and buy a lasagna and something to drink, it will cost you at least 70 dollars. McDonalds and Tim Hortons, for three people, may cost 40 dollars, but it is your health. \n \nThe government is investing millions to attract students and new immigrants, making labor significantly cheaper for large companies. Individuals with low wages can't even afford the cheapest rent, resulting in some living in tents across cities and towns in Nova Scotia. With an annual inflation rate of 15% to 25%—and the official rate reflecting only a detailed list of products deemed as basic food items by the government—only the minimum wage is legally required to increase when deemed appropriate by the government. Other wages increase only if the employer decides to do so. How often do they do this out of kindness to their employees? That's a good question. \n \nYour work experience in other countries does not count. They want people with Canadian experience, so it is better to think you will start with a 35,000 salary per year. A house cost between 450,000 to 2,500,000. When are you going to save to pay for a house? The cheapest ones can be 200 years old. A 100 m2 apartment, new, not very elegant but nice, can cost more than 2 million dollars in downtown Halifax. People say it is due to money laundry, and for sure is not because the medium class is buying them. \n \nI have many friends, who graduated from Canadian colleges and universities that haven't gotten a job in their career even after four years of graduation... and the list is longer. Please, be honest with people like these girls.

Part of the problem is outside Canada, people seem to think Canada only has two cities and two provinces which happen to also be the two cities with the highest housing and rent prices. It is partially this lack of research and knowledge is driving up their demand and therefore prices.

I live in Toronto, and although I agree the price of houses has gone to the roof. I still think is a safe city.

Immigration (especially the student visa back door) has become a lucrative business for a few people (colleges, ESL schools, universities, construction companies, realtors, etc) without thinking about the impact on all the most basic needs for Canadians. There have been record numbers of immigrants, but where are the record numbers in new housing, new hospitals, new nurses, new doctors, etc? Obviously, this is a good business for construction companies and realtors because they can maintain high prices forever and keep making money on the Canadian dream. It is time for the Canadian government, whether liberal or conservative, to stop this nonsense until the coverage of the basic needs of Canadians are covered.

People think its an easy thing as a full stop on students would do. Its not as easy because that inflow of cash should be replaced with somewhere in the economy, if not citizens will have to pay for it by increased taxes and goods of all products would still rise including housing. Then yes housing will be sufficient but even though demand reduces, prices wont be budging.

If home prices drop because there is more homes being built that gives everyone an advantage. I don't even know what percentage of people own 100% of their home but I don't think it's that many, and that's going to drop significantly as well. I know there's tons of studies done yearly on the effects of stability on children and mental health, good grades, good health. All these things generally improve with safety and stability and it's consistent. If you are someone who can actually afford to buy your own house, you could just buy a cheaper house and invest the rest in something else. It's actually better to have diversity than to sit there hoping no one builds houses so you can maintain some high value property. And this likely will lead to a collapse as well. It's unavoidable in the long term

I lived in Western Europe, Japan and at the moment, Canada. I lucked out getting a well paying job in Vancouver when I moved back a few years ago and my average tax rate is actually the exact percentage you stated in the video - 28%, which includes income tax, pension and employment insurance. I'm actually doing better in terms of quality of life now but I do miss being able to travel around Europe for cheap. (e.g., quick train ride to Paris for the weekend) Now, I take cheap flights (e.g. Flair Airlines) to Mexico instead.\n\nJust to state some data points: when I was in Europe, I paid a total average of 39% income tax on a lower salary than I have right now in Canada. Things like utilities (e.g., gas/electricity), restaurants, certain grocery items and electronics (e.g., iphone/PS5/computers) were significantly more expensive because European VAT (inclusive) is usually 20%+. \n\nI don't have the exact numbers but on average I believe I was paying 70 - 90€ ($100 - 130 CAD) just for electricity each month for a small flat, but I am now paying $30 - 50 CAD for a decent sized 1 bedroom. I believe my housing gas bill was about the same or possibly a bit more. In addition, automobile gas prices were much higher (about $2€/L on average which is $2.90 CAD/L) and I think they could go even higher right now. \n\nHowever, rent is definitely more expensive in Vancouver, but I believe that is true for many West coast cities in North America. Right now I'm paying $2300 CAD a month for a 1BR, and I split that amount with my partner. In comparison, it would have been about €1300 ($1900 CAD) for something similar in the city where I was living previously. In a more expensive city (e.g. Amsterdam) a 1BR would easily cost €1800+ ($2650 CAD).\n\nFor me, the difficulty of making friends in my late 20's stays about the same. I think it is difficult to make new friends after graduating from school, and you have to put yourself out there by joining groups and events. (e.g. Meetup or volunteering?)

New Zealand is in the same boat. High cost of living, high rents, house prices are way too high. Think these problems are world wide. We also opened the door to a particular country to come in and buy up properties due to incompetent governments.

Canada please i think with $20 billion dallars you can give and Home to the homeless people with the factory Capsule houses the prices range from $28 .000 and above depend on the rooms ,Make the world ???? a better placeb,,, there are even simple ones that cost about $4.000:dallars with everything Kitchen etc toilet and baths, just clear some Land floor it and place the capsule houses there they will be happy

You explained this so well!! My partner and I moved to Canada 3 years ago just as we got approved for H1B. We had to chose between moving to CA or staying there in an uncertain limbo for 2 decades waiting for a greencard. You did a good job talking about the downsides of moving such as a lower salary and higher home prices. We bought a small townhouse for the price we could have paid in the US for a detached house. Many people I know in similar situations leave CA and move back to the US once they get their Canadian citizenship. However, I do think that there are many reasons to stay such as the political climate. The US has become very regressive banning abortions, making gun laws more lenient and it’s not as accepting when it comes to diversity and inclusion (be it POC community or Lgbtqia+) unless you live in a big city which is expensive. These are the reasons we chose to stay, especially if we have kids as school shootings are getting more and more common there.

I think your reading of the situation is slight from the wrong end of scope. \n\n1> the job of the Canadian gov is to look after Canadians. (Yes they allow immigrants but that is for the benefit of Canadians and not the other way around. \n\nThe house prices are intentionally kept high. The reason is because it makes existing citizens richer. (Year on year) these people vote and the gov would like their vote) . Creating huge supply of housing is going to crash the market and that will end up people feeling poor. (Values will drop : demand and supply) . Falling values mean people will feel poor and then less likely to vote for the current administration.\n\nI am based in UK which is experiencing record amount of immigration. \n\nTaxes here are high.(I don’t mind high taxes as long as there are good public services to show for them) \n\nGood roads \nHigh speed internet \nGood infrastructure \nHospitals \n\nSo the job of the gov (in western hemisphere) generally is to keep the voting public happy. \n\nThat involves \n\n1>Good public services (most are social states and people accept high taxation as a trade off for good public services) \n\n2> rising house prices. (Voting public wants to feel richer and owning your home is like your retirement and pension pot. Most of the wealth in uk is stored in property. (I guess same in Canada to some extent ) \n\n3> control of immigration. People want immigration but want good immigration l. People who will come and contribute to society. Too much of it can be an issue for existing citizens and also immigrants themselves selves.\n\n\nOn a separate note. People deciding where to settle always remember. Long term the proximity to the world matters . Europe is still the centre of the world. Cross east to Asia and west to Canada and USA etc. living in Canada (west coast specially is like the edge of the world just like living in NZ ) \n\nPopulation matters. \nThe Canadian population and Australian population is less than of Uk (as far as I know ) and the land mass is huge. It is not a big market compared to some of the countries compared to Europe. \n\nMore people = more demand = more big companies want to compete =lower prices for consumers and less inflation .\n\nJust some thoughts on this last day of 2023z happy new years all .

Main difference between Singapore and Canada is the latter has been trying to suppress wages of the working class effectively turning the working class into the working poor. \n\nThis, based on idiotic economic theories coming from central bank economists who think profiting private banks which produce nothing and creating a slave labor force in perpetual debt is good for the economy.\n\nIn Singapore, the govt has done the opposite. i.e. enabled purchasing power of the average citizen to rise along with standards of living. Its created the belief that hard work, innovation and enterprise on the part of the individual actually leads to personal success. \n\nThat dream has faded away in Canada and the young people see a bleak future. Its sad to even have to write this.\n\nWhen central bankers, govt..etc. step in to steal the productive output of the working class, it destroys Capitalism and suplants it with Crony Capitalism. FIRE (Financial, Insurance, Real Estate) speculation prospers while the working class producing real goods and services is financially destroyed.\n\nThe real estate prices are deliberately kept high by artificially restricting supply of housing through all kinds of bureaucratic means. Its main objective is to keep people in debt and working to pay off mortgage debt. A fall in housing prices would undo a lot of the leveraged bets that depend on housing prices staying high -- as happened in 2008 in the US. Main losers of that are banks.\n\nYou can then understand why Canada keeps pushing for more and more immigrants. All pyramid schemes (in this case a debt pyramid scheme) has to expand their base or collapse. It also serves the purpose of wage suppression of the working class so they remain in debt.\n\n\nI don't understand why you came from a prosperous country like Singapore to a lower standard of living in Canada. What did you hope to achieve here that you could not have achieved in Singapore.\n\nUnfortunately, people come to see Canada as a stepping stone to going some place else. \nBut in truth, I'm not sure whether other places are any better.\n\nOne great strength of Canada which Singapore does not have is the vast natural resource base of the country. \nIt remains the one shining star the country can fall back on despite incompetent economists and govt.

WHERE are municipal politicians supposedly limiting the construction of homes? I don’t see it. \n\nWe are aware that there are regulations in place to protect buyers and that self-serving industries lobby to do away with, as those protective regulations can reduce profits. Some provincial governments (like Alberta) are highly sympathetic to lobbies and industries, to the detriment of citizens. \nWhy are you not pointing to the fact that successive federal governments of the past stopped funding the construction of lower cost housing (thereby creating more demand AND our number one problem of unmitigated greed throughout the real estate and home building industries? We have some people in government attempting to get more low cost homes built while industries know that they can make more money building houses that are far, far bigger than people NEED. Dumbasses and keep-up-the-Jones folks unwisely buy these homes and then many of them have difficulty affording a lifestyle that they think they are entitled to. Meanwhile, lower income earners have been priced right out the market. Of course, capitalists and real estate investors like Pierre Poilievre will never admit that these are our actual problems. Regulating the construction and real estate industries could have gotten a lot more homes built in higher density for young and lower income Canadians, as well as for our newcomers. \n\nToo much blind and poorly informed anger, selfishness, and foolishness going around. Canadians of the past who pulled together during world wars would call us weak and entitled.