they're focusing on the refugees, but i care more about low-income canadians. and, it's a circular problem: the more you increase demand without addressing the supply issue, the worse the problem gets.

i'll state what i've been saying for years: if the government wants to admit all of these refugees, it is going to need to build the infrastructure for them. and, if it won't build the infrastructure, if it's just going to let the market deal with it, then it's going to face a backlash.

so, do you blame it on the government? do you blame it on the refugees? at the end of the day, it's the mismatch between the immigration policy and the housing policy that's at the root of the problem. but, when some poor white person - be they a struggling artist or a heroin addict - points out that the cost of living is rising because of market forces being driven by immigration policy, they're not wrong, and the political spectrum needs to get their head around it.

so, we're not 'full'. but we lack the infrastructure and need to cut immigration levels until it catches up. it is true that it is in the benefit of low-income canadians to focus more on a housing strategy, and that's what the thrust of the policy ought to be about, but we need a two-thronged policy if we want to really get rents under control.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/homeless-newcomers-refugees-canada-studies-1.5242426