People’s Party of Canada leader Maxime Bernier is calling for a full halt to immigration in an effort to tackle what he describes as Canada’s worsening housing crisis.
Speaking to reporters Thursday, Bernier said the federal government should prioritize Canadian residents over newcomers.
“The Canadian government should work for us Canadians, not foreigners,” said Bernier.
“The People’s Party is going to solve the housing crisis in the simplest and most effective way possible, by imposing a complete moratorium on immigration for as many years as it takes to solve this crisis.”
Blacklock's Reporter says Bernier also pledged to deport what he called “hundreds of thousands of fake foreign students and fake refugees,” calling for what he described as real reform of the immigration system.
Canada has been tracking immigration since 1852. The lowest number of immigrants admitted in any year was 6,300 in 1860. In the modern era, the number dropped to a low of 11,300 during the Depression in 1935.
According to 2023 estimates from the Department of Immigration, Canada is currently home to 2.3 million foreign residents, including more than one million international students, over 766,000 migrant workers, and more than 471,000 landed immigrants.
Bernier said the influx of newcomers has contributed directly to housing shortages and a shift in urban planning.
“It’s transforming pleasant and quiet neighbourhoods with backyards where children can play to apartment blocks that will welcome as many immigrants as possible,” he said.
He accused other political parties of “destroying our quality of life to pander to ethnic lobbies” and to businesses looking for cheap labour.
The People’s Party previously faced criticism for its 2019 campaign slogan “Say No To Mass Immigration,” which was denounced by political opponents as xenophobic.
Bernier now claims public attitudes have shifted in his favour.
“We were called racists and xenophobic,” he said. “Today everyone is forced to admit that we were right.”
Bernier insisted his proposal is not rooted in racism. “The housing crisis has been getting worse for years,” he said. “We know exactly what the root cause of the problem is — mass immigration.”
A Statistics Canada report released last August found that 32% of the country’s workforce is foreign born, a number projected to rise to 44% by 2041 if current immigration rates continue.
The report, Canadian Labour Force: What Will Happen Once Baby Boomers Retire?, said halting immigration entirely as early as 2024 would reduce the proportion of foreign-born residents to 29% by 2041.
Provincially, British Columbia and Ontario have the highest share of foreign-born workers at 39%, followed by Alberta at 31%, Manitoba at 29%, Québec at 23%, Saskatchewan at 19.5%, Prince Edward Island at 17%, Nova Scotia at 14%, New Brunswick at 11%, and Newfoundland and Labrador at 6%.
