Sadly, I think you're right on the money. How did we get here? I don't understand the objections to immigrants filling jobs we have available. I've been a businessman all my life, and one thing has always been constant... the search for good, reliable employees. Expansion has never been a question of pay rate or subsidies... a good employee is always worth what the market demands you pay them! It is wrong to think that immigrants take the available housing or that there is a housing shortage. The shortage is cheap housing, and that is a different topic entirely, one that has nothing to do with immigration and everything to do with speculation and regulation.
Why is immigration a bargain? Because it costs in the neighbourhood of a million dollars to bring up a child and educate it to an undergraduate degree or a handworker's red seal level. I know a few immigrants, and every one of them is at that level or higher. My cardiologist is from India...my family doctor is from South Africa, and the last time I was in the hospital, the majority of the very competent nurses who helped me were from the Philippines. We have a productive lifespan of less than 40 of our average 80 years, and getting 30 of those unproductive years at no cost is a bargain! In addition, our society doesn't want and thinks it can't afford 3 children per family. And that's why we need immigrants!
I'm all for growth, especially here in the Maritime provinces — we absolutely deserve to attract and retain quality people. But what we really need are skilled tradespeople: construction workers, plumbers, carpenters, electricians, and others who build the backbone of our communities.
From the outside looking in — and I know I’m not alone — it feels like what we’ve mostly seen are large, already-profitable corporations like Tim Hortons, McDonald's, Walmart, and others benefiting from government subsidy programs. These programs were designed to bring in workers, but the end result seems to have been tax dollars supporting the payroll of businesses that could already afford it.
I’ve seen countless comments from parents frustrated that their kids couldn’t land part-time jobs at these businesses, only to learn that it was simply more profitable for the company to hire a subsidized worker instead. And honestly, I can’t fault the businesses — if I were in their position, I’d likely make the same choice.
But the real loss here isn’t just the job itself — it’s the experience. When a subsidized position is filled by an adult immigrant, it often takes away an important opportunity for local adolescents to get their first taste of the working world. Part-time jobs teach teens about responsibility, financial literacy, and give them a glimpse into the daily realities their parents face. For many of us, part-time work during our teenage years was a rite of passage — it certainly was for me, and for my own kids too. It should be for this generation as well. There is no way you can justify this argument on a spreadsheet.
I don't believe in wage subsidies for large corporations and financially well off franchisees. There are plenty of people out there in need of a second job just to pay the rent. In short, I agree with increased immigration, but it must be targeted to the kind of jobs we need filled. And if you know of a good plumber and carpenter I'm in need of their services.
Sadly, I think you're right on the money. How did we get here? I don't understand the objections to immigrants filling jobs we have available. I've been a businessman all my life, and one thing has always been constant... the search for good, reliable employees. Expansion has never been a question of pay rate or subsidies... a good employee is always worth what the market demands you pay them! It is wrong to think that immigrants take the available housing or that there is a housing shortage. The shortage is cheap housing, and that is a different topic entirely, one that has nothing to do with immigration and everything to do with speculation and regulation.
Why is immigration a bargain? Because it costs in the neighbourhood of a million dollars to bring up a child and educate it to an undergraduate degree or a handworker's red seal level. I know a few immigrants, and every one of them is at that level or higher. My cardiologist is from India...my family doctor is from South Africa, and the last time I was in the hospital, the majority of the very competent nurses who helped me were from the Philippines. We have a productive lifespan of less than 40 of our average 80 years, and getting 30 of those unproductive years at no cost is a bargain! In addition, our society doesn't want and thinks it can't afford 3 children per family. And that's why we need immigrants!
I'm all for growth, especially here in the Maritime provinces — we absolutely deserve to attract and retain quality people. But what we really need are skilled tradespeople: construction workers, plumbers, carpenters, electricians, and others who build the backbone of our communities.
From the outside looking in — and I know I’m not alone — it feels like what we’ve mostly seen are large, already-profitable corporations like Tim Hortons, McDonald's, Walmart, and others benefiting from government subsidy programs. These programs were designed to bring in workers, but the end result seems to have been tax dollars supporting the payroll of businesses that could already afford it.
I’ve seen countless comments from parents frustrated that their kids couldn’t land part-time jobs at these businesses, only to learn that it was simply more profitable for the company to hire a subsidized worker instead. And honestly, I can’t fault the businesses — if I were in their position, I’d likely make the same choice.
But the real loss here isn’t just the job itself — it’s the experience. When a subsidized position is filled by an adult immigrant, it often takes away an important opportunity for local adolescents to get their first taste of the working world. Part-time jobs teach teens about responsibility, financial literacy, and give them a glimpse into the daily realities their parents face. For many of us, part-time work during our teenage years was a rite of passage — it certainly was for me, and for my own kids too. It should be for this generation as well. There is no way you can justify this argument on a spreadsheet.
I don't believe in wage subsidies for large corporations and financially well off franchisees. There are plenty of people out there in need of a second job just to pay the rent. In short, I agree with increased immigration, but it must be targeted to the kind of jobs we need filled. And if you know of a good plumber and carpenter I'm in need of their services.