By: Yildiz Subuk, Staff Writer
Content warning: non-graphic mentions of hate crimes against racialized communities.
This year, the Canadian government announced its first-ever limit for temporary residents, which includes temporary foreign workers, international students, and asylum claimants. Amid this decision, immigrants are being increasingly scapegoated as the cause of the housing crisis in Canada, with people suggesting they’re driving up housing prices. And while not all immigrants are people of colour, the disdain that is present around immigration tends to be directed toward people of colour. Canada’s lack of public housing, poor regulatory policies around rent, and housing market privatization are the real culprits.
The far right, which is known to blame immigration for housing insecurity, are a root cause of the growing anti-immigrant sentiment in Canada. The far right does not consist of one singular ideology, but is a culmination of different beliefs that often push forward extremist white supremacist ideas. The platforming of far-right groups in Canada has allowed a lot of misinformation to thrive, even among those who may not exactly consider themselves extremists. Misguided beliefs regarding immigration have allowed many bigoted individuals to come out and speak freely about their disdain towards immigrants of colour in particular. Harmful misinformation has bled into mainstream discourse. Some examples of dangerous far-right groups include Atalante and Diagolon. But far right talking points aren’t isolated to extremist groups; many Canadian publications like CBC have been parroting anti-immigrant talking points as well.
According to a report by the Canadian Race Relation Foundation, Canadians that are people of colour are three times more likely to be victims of online hate crimes. A report by Statistics Canada shows that 82% of online hate crimes have violent connotations, the most common forms being “uttering threats,” harassment, and “incitement of hatred.” A Statistics Canada report shows that there has been an over 140% increase in hate crimes that target South Asian communities. Many South Asian immigrants have spoken about the online hate they experience.
Contrary to what some may believe, Canada’s housing crisis can be largely linked to the financialization of housing. This is when housing is viewed by private corporations as an investment asset instead of a basic need. It’s led to large corporations owning up to 30% of rental units. Private corporations do not care about affordable housing, as they tend to benefit from rent gouging — a practice where landlords set the rent at an unreasonably high rate. Laws that protect tenants from high rents used to be regulated during the ‘70s, but became less of a priority in the ‘90s. The lack of regulation on private investors has caused a shortage of affordable housing, as many buy properties, renovate, and charge rent that does not align with the incomes of people looking for affordable housing.
Immigrants should not be subjected to blame for an issue caused by poor public policies and unregulated capitalist practices. It also doesn’t help that Canada’s Liberal and Conservative parties have begun to validate anti-immigrant scapegoating. Migrants coming into Canada to work are often victims of unaffordable housing rather than contributors. They end up living in “overcrowded” or “unsafe” locations, and face many human rights violations, including low wages, long work hours, and physical abuse. They also work in essential sectors like healthcare, construction, and transportation. These are industries facing shortages — industries that benefit greatly from temporary foreign workers. Immigrants benefit Canada’s economy. They help grow the labour force, contribute to social services through their taxes, and boost the country’s public education institutions.
Justin Trudeau’s Liberal government, which was responsible for increasing immigration, has now begun announcing decisions that limit immigration. Recently, they announced the country will be cutting down temporary foreign workers and making more upcoming changes to immigration policy. The government also plans to make visa requirements mandatory for Mexican asylum seekers, a decision which will “affect roughly 40% of all Mexican travellers to Canada.” This announcement feels like a response to the anti-immigration sentiment that has spread across Canada — one that affirms it. These decisions reinforce falsehoods about immigration being “out of control,” as Conservative Party leader Pierre Poilievre has claimed.
Both parties have not addressed how the financialization of housing has contributed to housing insecurity, but have instead reinforced beliefs that immigration may have something to do with it. Hostility towards immigration is regressive. There needs to be accountability placed on large corporations that buy up the housing sector, then charge high rent, as well as the government that fails to adequately tackle this issue.
