So Long, Canada?

Last week we spoke about the unsettling trend of increasing property taxes in many cities across Canada. Big or small, municipalities are racking up the average Canadian’s already suffocating cost of living by tacking on as much as 39% in property tax increases as seen in Osoyoos, BC. The other trend we’re seeing across the country: Canadians are up and leaving.

It is not a mystery to understand why people are considering leaving. Given the shocking number I just gave you that would make anyone miserable and that is only one measure. According to Statistics Canada, in 2021 and then again in 2022 almost 100,000 Canadians packed their bags and didn’t look back. In the first six months of 2023, 42,000 people took off. What is also concerning is that these numbers do not just include immigrants that have become discouraged or disillusioned. More and more they include Canadians of all ages and backgrounds that are making a quality-of-life assessment and deciding to leave. The numbers also mask those people on a “test run”. Those working remotely in another country for a substantial part of the year. They haven’t made a permanent decision, but are on a trajectory that is not positive for Canada if we want to retain top talent.

With the average house or rental prices far exceeding what many people, especially young people, could ever afford, many Canadians are seeing this country as a lost cause – at least for them. A few weeks ago we discussed the City of Hamilton only just now implementing the wartime housing project, a project that focuses on building as many single-family homes as possible. This project only began in 2023 in select cities, years after the housing crisis became obvious. With the government’s lack of urgency, many citizens aren’t happy with the increase in taxes they pay yet no growth in social services.

Reuters brings up and interesting point: Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has been focusing heavily on increasing immigration to Canada as a way to combat an aging or slowing population. Meanwhile, many of the immigrants who have been to coming to this country are met with deplorable conditions, and many have been left on the streets. A better solution on the government’s part would be to ensure your country can not only take care of its current citizens but also accommodate an influx of immigrants or refugees before convincing people to pack up their lives, leave their families and birth homes, just to be left on the streets. By saying “on the streets,” this is not an exaggeration. Recall in the past few months when the government boasted about the number of refugees they accepted, only for them to step off the plane to zero shelters or housing services accepting residents. Many well-educated professionals immigrate to this country and are forced into minimum wage jobs. Clearly, there is something wrong.

For many Canadians, it feels like yesterday when our parents and grandparents spoke of coming to this country for a better life. Fifty or so years later, we can no longer enjoy what they once could. Canadians are being driven out of the only homes we have known because it is becoming increasingly less possible to establish yourself in Canada.

To many young Canadians, owning a home is nothing but a far-fetched dream. The average house price in Ontario as of December 2023 is – brace yourself - $853,915. While many Canadians have already abandoned the ownership dream, renting is not much better. The average rental price for a one-bedroom in Ontario is $2,238. With the minimum wage in Ontario being $16.55, we begin to run into some trouble. According to Global News, the estimated living wage for anywhere in Ontario is over $20. Unless young people win the lottery, work 3 jobs, or become famous, the numbers now show that many Canadians cannot afford to live here.

Like our parents and grandparents did decades ago, Canadians are now realizing that to reach their full potential and establish a life for themselves, they need to move to another country where that is possible for them. We have a responsibility and motivation to stop this. As proud Canadian’s we are committed to this country and its future. We do not feel that the solution to housing affordability to collapse housing prices. That serves very few and causes damage to many. That cure is worse than the disease.

We believe that the main solution to this problem will be found in establishing affordability by setting the conditions for success. Canadians are hard work and industrious. They are innovators. They are brave. Given a chance, they will succeed. Setting policies and a tax structure that is fair and reasonable will encourages good jobs and good wages to come to Canada. That will allow Canadians to fluish.