Keller: Canada’s economy used to look better than it really was. Now, it’s the opposite

Good take:

…The conclusion to draw is not that immigration makes Canada poorer, or that a shrinking population is the route to prosperity. As for the Trudeau government’s belief that rapid population growth would automatically make us all richer, that’s not true either.

What happened prior to 2025 is that immigration outpaced business investment. The number of workers grew faster than the number of tools. That delivered more production, but declining productivity. Our immigration system also became focused on recruiting low-wage workers – another route for suppressing GDP per capita.

The Canadian economic pie is now 7.3 per cent larger than it was at the start of 2022. But per capita GDP, the average slice of pie, still has not recovered to where it was four years ago. 

Source: Canada’s economy used to look better than it really was. Now, it’s the opposite