‘Different factors’ fuel housing crisis, not international students: Trudeau – National | 24CA News
It could be fallacious to single out worldwide college students as a trigger for Canada’s housing disaster, which is attributable to a number of elements, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau stated on Wednesday.
Speaking to reporters after this yr’s cupboard retreat in Charlottetown, Trudeau stated worldwide college students have been simply the most recent group being blamed for the housing scarcity.
“We have to be very careful. Over the past years, we’ve seen a lot of different people and a lot of different groups blamed for the housing crisis. At one point it was foreign homebuyers. At another point it was developers being super aggressive. Another point, it was under-investments by various orders of government. Now it’s people saying, ‘Oh, it’s international students,’” Trudeau stated.
“Yes, there’s a lot of different factors that go into this housing crisis. But it’s something that has been brewing and developing over the past number of decades.”
A variety of Trudeau’s cupboard colleagues have echoed this sentiment not too long ago, however have additionally spurred questions on whether or not the federal government’s immigration targets must be reviewed because the nation struggles to deal with a housing disaster.
Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc stated Tuesday that altering the brand new immigration goal isn’t a dialog he’s had with any fellow ministers, however he stated the federal government should tailor its insurance policies on immigration and housing to acknowledge the hyperlink between the 2.
Immigration, LeBlanc stated, is “essential for the economic prosperity and growth of the country” and each premier is speaking about needing extra immigrants to fill jobs. That contains these wanted to construct homes, as the development business is going through a essential labour scarcity.
“But we’re not insensitive to the housing challenges that existed before provinces asked us to bring in more immigrants to help with the labour force,” he stated.
“So you have to be coherent a little bit here, but we totally accept that the conversation needs to proceed at the same time so that we don’t inadvertently end up in a position that makes the housing affordability issue worse.”
Canada presently has 800,000 lively examine allow holders, and has established the objective of bringing in 500,000 new immigrants annually.
Housing Minister Sean Fraser advised earlier this week that Ottawa think about a cap on the variety of worldwide college students admitted to Canada annually.
Fraser, who till not too long ago held the immigration portfolio, stated faculties and universities haven’t all saved tempo with the housing wants related to rising worldwide college students. He stated each he and Immigration Minister Marc Miller wanted to take a look at whether or not a cap on worldwide college students could also be vital.
A spokesperson for Miller’s workplace instructed Global News that whereas the minister was contemplating all choices, a cap on worldwide college students can’t be the one resolution and received’t repair the issue.
“Abuses in the system exist and must be tackled in smart and logical ways. This potentially includes implementing a cap but that can’t be the only measure, as it doesn’t address the entire problem,” stated Bahoz Dara Aziz, Miller’s press secretary.
“We’re currently looking at a number of options in order to take a multifaceted approach to this.”
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC), nonetheless, has stated it “does not establish levels/caps for study permits in the way we do for permanent residence programs through the multi-year levels plan.”
The assertion from the division stated the federal authorities was “undertaking a review” of the worldwide college students program after Miller instructed The Canadian Press in an interview that he’s open to reconsidering worldwide scholar enrolments, significantly amid fraud considerations.
The spokesperson stated they have been already in session with universities, faculties and different stakeholders on how finest to handle that circulation.
Housing for incoming worldwide college students can be a significant concern within the consultations.
Migrant Workers Alliance for Change, an advocacy group, stated final week that linking immigration to housing was “racist thinking.”
“Many immigrants are also poor and like temporary migrants, they are not the ones increasing the demand for housing. They are the people facing a housing crisis,” a report by the group stated.
“The population increase in the last two years was 3.9 per cent, but rental prices shot up an astronomical 20 per cent. The benchmark price to purchase a home has also increased more sharply than the population has, shooting up 6.3 per cent in just the last year.”
— with recordsdata from The Canadian Press
© 2023 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
