“As housing affordability pressures continue to mount across the country, we believe Ottawa should consider revising its immigration targets to allow supply to catch up with demand,” Marion said.
“You would have to drill down on those numbers,” he said. “It doesn’t mean that we can’t have a conversation about it. There are views and they are ones that we have to look at carefully when we are trying to build consensus as a country.” Bringing in skilled workers is a key component of Canada’s immigration plan, and Miller stressed that more homebuilders and medical professionals are needed to boost housing and health care. Skilled trades workers are targeted to comprise 60 per cent of the total 500,000 newcomers Canada plans to welcome by 2025, with the rest made up of family members, refugees and those looking to enter on humanitarian grounds.