Immigration’s Counterproductive Results: The Relationship Between GDP, Productivity, and Immigration

Commentary Immigration Minister Marc Miller embraces the mantra that Canada needs immigration to keep the economy going. That’s how experts say we’re supposed to get economic growth along with improvements in productivity and higher per capita GDP. But is that true? There are 2.5 million temporary residents in Canada, comprising 6.2 percent of the population, or barely fewer than the population of Toronto. Minister Miller’s claimed objective is to bring that percentage down to 5 percent. But that doesn’t mean stemming the flow of immigrants so as to lessen demand for housing and services. He wants “robust pathways” to permanent residency. In an interview on March 27 with U.S. National Public Radio, he said there’s apparently no limit to Canada’s open-door policy: “There is no doubt that we have made a conscious decision to be an open country and a country that needs to grow.”...