I wrote this piece in part to seed dialogue in advance of the April 19 event that Gen Squeeze is co-hosting with The Ismaili Centre Toronto and Habitat for Humanity GTA. https://www.gensqueeze.ca/housing_immigration_in_the_gta_what_can_we_gain For those in Toronto, please join us in person for a great evening of discussion. We will also break fast, because the presentations will end as the sun sets, and the Ismaili Centre Toronto is kindly hosting us amid Ramadan.
For those not in Toronto, I look forward to engaging with your feedback here. Cheers
It's great to see the absurdity of the situation young and newer Canadians have been put in acknowledged. I think many people I know will find this story validating. because the scenario you present is so prevalent. I can't count the number of young people I know who have surpassed their parents who immigrated decades ago (in terms of education, earnings, etc.), yet could never dream of buying a home in the neighbourhoods they grew up in.
That's interesting Kareem. You highlight another layer to the squeeze that children of immigrants experience in Canada. Many of their parents will have sacrificed a lot to come to Canada in the hopes of giving their kids a better chance in life. Now that Canada's housing system makes it so much harder for young adults to afford rent or ownership, some first generation Canadians share with me that they feel that they are "letting down" their parents who immigrated. That's a heavy psychological load to carry on top of being financially squeezed by higher housing costs that make hard work NOT pay off like it used to.
In addition to intergenerational unfairness, population growth is a risky policy if we look at climate risks:
-Our main foreign exchange earner is petroleum, which will not remain viable because of the world's transition away from carbon fuels.
-The increasing heat and the loss of glaciers will reduce productivity on the prairies and reduce canola and wheat production and other food exports which are another of our main foreign exchange earners
-Sea Level rise will further reduce food production and create dislocation around the world, including on our own delta. 330,000 people who presently live in areas in the lower mainland that are at risk of flooding. They will need to be moved or protected.
I wrote this piece in part to seed dialogue in advance of the April 19 event that Gen Squeeze is co-hosting with The Ismaili Centre Toronto and Habitat for Humanity GTA. https://www.gensqueeze.ca/housing_immigration_in_the_gta_what_can_we_gain For those in Toronto, please join us in person for a great evening of discussion. We will also break fast, because the presentations will end as the sun sets, and the Ismaili Centre Toronto is kindly hosting us amid Ramadan.
For those not in Toronto, I look forward to engaging with your feedback here. Cheers
Really enjoyed this piece Paul.
It's great to see the absurdity of the situation young and newer Canadians have been put in acknowledged. I think many people I know will find this story validating. because the scenario you present is so prevalent. I can't count the number of young people I know who have surpassed their parents who immigrated decades ago (in terms of education, earnings, etc.), yet could never dream of buying a home in the neighbourhoods they grew up in.
That's interesting Kareem. You highlight another layer to the squeeze that children of immigrants experience in Canada. Many of their parents will have sacrificed a lot to come to Canada in the hopes of giving their kids a better chance in life. Now that Canada's housing system makes it so much harder for young adults to afford rent or ownership, some first generation Canadians share with me that they feel that they are "letting down" their parents who immigrated. That's a heavy psychological load to carry on top of being financially squeezed by higher housing costs that make hard work NOT pay off like it used to.
In addition to intergenerational unfairness, population growth is a risky policy if we look at climate risks:
-Our main foreign exchange earner is petroleum, which will not remain viable because of the world's transition away from carbon fuels.
-The increasing heat and the loss of glaciers will reduce productivity on the prairies and reduce canola and wheat production and other food exports which are another of our main foreign exchange earners
-Sea Level rise will further reduce food production and create dislocation around the world, including on our own delta. 330,000 people who presently live in areas in the lower mainland that are at risk of flooding. They will need to be moved or protected.
See:
https://coastal.climatecentral.org/map/10/-122.8088/49.2193/?theme=sea_level_rise&map_type=year&basemap=roadmap&contiguous=true&elevation_model=best_available&forecast_year=2100&pathway=rcp45&percentile=p50&refresh=true&return_level=return_level_1&rl_model=tebaldi_2012&slr_model=kopp_2014