Canada’s Immigration Lobby Scrambles To Regain Control Of Narrative

A recent Leger poll conducted for the Association for Canadian Studies and the Metropolis Institute reveals that, despite the Trudeau government’s immigration cut, 62% of Canadians still think immigration levels are too high. This majority includes 60% of native-born Canadians and 57% of foreign-born Canadians, indicating broad support for immigration restriction across different backgrounds.

While public opinion is shifting away from support for immigration and towards concern over the strain immigration places on housing, healthcare, social services, and social cohesion, there are countervailing forces seeking to maintain the immigration status quo. While some have ideological reasons for this position, others have a financial stake in immigration-fuelled population growth. I refer to this constellation of think tanks, lobbyists, business interests, academics, and others as Canada’s immigration lobby.

While immigration status quo supporters are clearly on the back foot, they are working hard to influence the national discussion and government policy.

Quebec businesses sue Canada for cutting foreign worker numbers

Business interests are often some of the loudest voices in Canada’s immigration debate, as high immigration provides employers with a strong flow of labour from overseas. Some businesses in Quebec have responded to restrictions placed on the temporary foreign worker program by the Trudeau government, and kept in place by the Carney government, with a $300 million lawsuit!

Quoting from an article in CTV News:

“A group of Quebec business owners have launched a $300 million lawsuit against the federal government this month, arguing they’re facing bankruptcy if Ottawa goes ahead with its plan to reduce the number of foreign workers coming into Canada.

The heads of the 23 businesses, which make everything from steel products to winter jackets and airplane parts, say temporary foreign workers are essential to stay afloat.”

“Our town’s going to collapse”: Northern BC employers demand more foreign workers

Quoting from a Global News article:

“Prince Rupert is home to the third largest port in the country and, according to the Community Futures Development Corporation, offers unionized jobs which allow young people to move up quickly and afford a house within three years.

But executive director John Farrell says the local economy in the northwest coast city of 14,000, is at risk due to federal government changes to immigration and work permit policies.

‘Right now, we have two permits that are under siege,’ Farrell told the business community at a Northern BC Call to Action session on June 25.

The Temporary Foreign Worker (TFW) Program, which fuels the service industry, and provides 90 per cent of the staff at Farrell’s restaurant, Opa Sushi [emphasis mine] and the international student program, recently underwent significant cuts.”

Reading further along in the article, we find that some of the rhetoric used by employers is downright apocalyptic:

“At Ray Pedersen’s construction company, most of the employees are foreign workers on temporary VISAs [sic].

‘My business would disappear overnight and all my customers would be disappointed if we didn’t have the guys we need to deliver the service they need,’ said the Pedersen-Gruppen Enterprises CEO.

‘If we don’t stem these policies and actually think about the northwest of B.C. as different, then really our town’s going to collapse,’ warned Farrell.”

Century Initiative: “Canada’s long-standing consensus on immigration is now at risk”

The Century Initiative population growth lobby, which seeks to raise Canada’s population to 100 million by 2100, recently released its 2024 Annual Report in which it expressed concern that Canada’s immigration consensus is fraying:

“The political landscape and public sentiment have shifted dramatically. Canada’s long-standing consensus on immigration is now at risk, underscored by the federal government’s reversal on immigration targets—both permanent and temporary—with substantial economic and
social consequences. Public discourse often lacks a clear articulation and comprehensive understanding of Canada’s immigration system, creating confusion and uncertainty.

In this environment, the role of Century Initiative in providing informed, effective leadership on these crucial issues has never been more vital. Our mission remains clear: to guide smart, inclusive, and responsible growth through evidence based research, collaborative partnerships, and proactive advocacy…”

Authors claim immigration is fuelling an “economic renaissance” in Atlantic Canada

Quoting from a National Post article:

“The authors of a new book detail the dramatic improvements newcomers are bringing to the East Coast — and argue this is no time to swerve. They argue only for a more strategic immigration policy, one that reflects the region’s economic needs.

In Toward Prosperity, The Transformation of Atlantic Canada’s Economy, former pollster Don Mills and economist David Campbell highlight how increasing immigration in the past five years has boosted the economy of a stagnant region with the oldest population in the country.”

One of the authors argues that the immigrants his business hires “have a certain ambition that sometimes seems lacking in native-born Canadians”:

“…When he sold his polling firm, now known as Narrative Research, in late 2018, Mills, along with his son and brother, acquired Cabco, an infrastructure cabling business. Since the purchase in the spring of 2019, the company has grown from 40 to 100 employees.

‘We’re continuously recruiting for people,’ he said. ‘It’s hard to find skilled people.’

The company turned to immigrants to help fill the gap. ‘They’re great workers,’ Mills said. ‘They have a certain ambition that sometimes seems lacking in native-born Canadians.’ “