Oct 31, 2020
During the COVID-19 pandemic, the immigration process has slowed, if not to a grinding halt. Canada cannot survive without the induction of new immigrants, population replacement wise as well as to run her economy we need new immigrants.
Canada’s immigration history is as old as her age.
According to Stas Canada “since Confederation in 1867, more than 17 million immigrants have come to Canada”.
Canadian Immigration Minister Marco Mendicino announced on Friday, October 30, 2020, that Canada will welcome 1.2 million immigrants in the next three years and an annual target set for immigration would reach over 400 million.
It may surprise many but the year 1913 has already set the record for the highest number of immigrants coming to Canada in a year when more than 400 million immigrants arrived in that year.
The steady higher number of immigrants started since the early 1990s and continue to date having about 235K new immigrants making Canada their new homeland.
With the desperate need for new immigrants and the government’s plan to take in almost half a million immigrants in a year, we have to consider the impact on the country’s landscape, demography, and economy.
Historically, most new immigrants, almost 70%, settle in and around GTA, Montreal, BC, Alberta, and other major economic hubs. It is also interesting that many of the immigrants tend to move in and around GTA from other places over time.
These immigrants go through a rigorous vetting process and they bring in a wealth of highly educated and trained individuals along with their families and plenty of wealth.
They induce their lifetime savings in the economic engine of the country.
These immigrants need homes to settle themselves and their families. As a result, they create more demands for housing resulting in thousands of direct and ancillary jobs connected with the housing industry.
While running the economic gears of the country, it results in a demand and supply situation in the housing.
With almost half a million new immigrants target we can imagine a rapid increase in the housing prices, prices that have already seen double-digit increase despite the COVID-19 pandemic.
So, anyone who is undecided for many years and still waiting for the prices to touch the bottom may have already bypassed without not noticing it.
I will be happy to discuss it further with you one-on-one and can be reached at 416-908-5600.
Take care of yourselves and follow the safety precautions defined by healthcare professionals.
Please pray for the safety of all and the cure for COVID-19 to be found at the earliest.
A. Q. Mufti
