The Shadowy Century Initiative Lobby Is Being Dragged Into The Light Of Public Discussion

At a recent skilled trades announcement in Ottawa, Pierre Poilievre was asked about Mark Carney’s decision to add Century Initiative co-founder Mark Wiseman to his list of advisors on Canada-U.S. relations. Poilievre responded by condemning what he described as the “radical, globalist ideology of uncontrolled population growth” driven by “corporate elites” to suppress wages. He argued that Wiseman’s appointment “shows that Mark Carney supports the Liberal Century Initiative to nearly triple our population to 100 million”.

In Poilievre’s opening campaign announcement yesterday, he went further, bringing up the Century Initiative of his own accord in the immigration section of his speech: “We’ll cap immigration, and stop the radical Century Initiative, which seeks to almost triple our population to 100 million people”.

Poilievre is the same politician who has in the past pandered to Sikhs by pledging to establish direct flights to Amritsar, called for a halt to the deportation of 700 international students with fake admission letters, and dodged questions about whether mass immigration is fuelling Canada’s housing crisis. Did he undergo some kind of Road to Damascus conversion on the issue of immigration? More likely, he is feeling the pressure of his party’s slip in the opinion polls, and is seeking to create a wedge issue while also bolstering his immigration restrictionist credentials at a time when support for immigration restriction is at an all-time high in Canada.

Mark Carney has distanced himself from the Century Initiative, pledged to keep the Trudeau government’s immigration cap in place, and stated that Quebec has the right to determine “a rhythm of immigration that allows for integration” into the Quebec culture. Association with the Century Initiative, and mass immigration more generally, has become a political hot potato that Canadian politicians want nothing to do with. In retrospect, the idea of raising Canada’s population to 100 million – cramming 60 million more people into our already overcrowded cities – was always destined for failure as soon as the Canadian public found out about it.

The most significant aspect of all this talk about the Century Initiative is the very fact that it’s being discussed at all – let alone that this topic is taking a fairly prominent position in a national election campaign. Founded in 2014 by Mark Wiseman and Dominic Barton, the Century Initiative’s goal of dramatically increasing Canada’s population through immigration has gone largely unreported since. Few stories have been written about the shadowy lobby, even in instances where the group gained considerable influence over public policy.

Except, that is, on Dominion Review, where I have made coverage of the Century Initiative a major focus since I founded this publication in the spring of 2023. In the interest of continuing to bring the activities of shadowy lobbyists into the scrutinizing light of public opinion, here are some of the key insights on the Century Initiative published on DR:

The Century Initiative has received funding from banks and corporations

In this article, I analyzed an annual report from the Century Initiative, and broke down some of the group’s donors. These include:

• BMO
• Scotiabank
• TD Bank
• Power Corporation of Canada
• AGT Food and Ingredients
• Business Council of Canada

At one point, a Century Initiative report floated the idea of turning Canada into a nation of “mega-regions”

In one lengthy article, I delved into some of the details of what the Century Initiative proposes. One of the more shocking insights was the idea of “mega-regions” with vastly increased populations. While the Century Initiative appears to have dropped or de-emphasized this idea, the detailed population breakdowns are shocking. Here’s a list of what the populations of Canada’s “mega-regions” would be in 2100, the year that the Century Initiative envisions Canada’s total population reaching 100 million:

• Vancouver (11.9 million)
• Calgary-Edmonton (15.5 million)
• Winnipeg (1.7 million)
• Southwest Ontario (2 million)
• Toronto (33.5 millon)
• Montreal (12.2 million)
• National Capital (4.8 million)

The Century Initiative is not all theory – they have had the capacity for real influence in public policy

Century Initiative co-founders Mark Wiseman and Dominic Barton were both on Trudeau’s Advisory Council on Economic Growth, with Barton serving as chair. Read more on that here.

“Dominic Barton chaired Trudeau’s Advisory Council on Economic Growth, with Mark Wiseman serving as a member. In 2016, the Advisory Council recommended that the annual immigration rate be raised to 450,000. A Radio Canada report reveals that Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) was quickly instructed to take this number as a foundational plan.”

When asked about raising Canada’s population to 100 million, Canadians aren’t so keen on the idea

Canadians for a Sustainable Society, a group that raises awareness of the social and environmental effects of mass immigration, commissioned a poll that asked Canadians what they thought about the Century Initiative. It turns out that Canadians are not fond of the “100 million by 2100 plan”. I broke down more key results from the poll here.

“An advocacy group called The Century Initiative advising the Canadian Government wants to triple our population by the year 2100. What are your initial thoughts on this?”

• Good idea (13%)
• Bad idea (60%)