The Los Angeles Times — December 2024
Housing crisis, economic woes and Trump: How Canada turned against immigrants
words by kate linthicum
Canada long sold itself as a beacon for immigrants, who were widely viewed as key to economic growth in a vast nation with a small and rapidly aging workforce.
“Study, work and stay” was the slogan of a government campaign to lure international students, part of a broader push that included recruiting temporary workers and resettling refugees. After President Trump banned travel to the U.S. from several Muslim-majority countries in 2017, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced that Canada’s doors were open.
“To those fleeing persecution, terror and war, Canadians will welcome you, regardless of your faith,” he wrote on the platform now known as X. “Diversity is our strength.”
But in recent months, Canada has changed course.
For the first time in a quarter-century, a majority of Canadians say there is too much immigration. Hate crimes are on the rise, along with rhetoric blaming newcomers for the country’s economic woes.
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