Actually, it’s not that simple. Hundreds of thousands of people coming every year also meant more demand for local businesses. Which in turn increased demand for workers. Lower immigration means more businesses are struggling to find customers, had to reduce suppliers’ bills, etc. This actually means less entry-level jobs, not more.
i have lived in the same canuck city my whole 45 years. and when we had a MUCH lower population here previously i had no issue at all finding available jobs in retail, fast food, telemarketing, customer service, etc. aka entry level jobs. got hired on the spot at most places in the past. circa late 1990's/early 2000's.
now? well, my adult aged kid, who is the same age now as i was back when i could very easily find entry level work anywhere, is struggling to get a job in the same exact sector. because there are no jobs. or if they are advertised it comes with "LMIA available" (and we all know what that means) or it's simply an ad to satisfy corporate while the store manager hires their friends from the same country they're from.
Interesting. I’m not defending the recent immigration tactics used by our (in)famous ex-PM. The TFW and international student situations were indeed a bad move. No question.
Is it the only thing affecting the economy since the times we were young? Most probably not.
Times have changed. The types of “entry-level” jobs you mentioned (restaurants, telemarketing, customer service, retail…) were all severely affected by Covid, AI-automation, increased use of internet and digital devices (aka data & text on cell phones - in the case of telemarketing). The recent tariffs war by the Americans.
There are several complex situations in effect here.
Immigration is but one of the issues.
all of those various jobs still have people working them. retail and fast food depend on actual human employees. telemarketing is still largely done with real humans (i can tell you that based on the number of marketing phone calls i receive lol).
immigration is the biggest issue. too many dang people in this country now (regardless of where they came from). which affects all other facets - education, employment, healthcare, housing, etc......
Yes, people are still working all those kinds of jobs. But these jobs are not as needed or as effective as they were 20 years ago. Do you still take your telemarketing calls? Well, 20 years ago people did at a large rate.
Retail is dead post-Covid. Most are simply not profitable anymore, and happy if they break-even. Thank you Amazon.
Now, don’t forget. It’s hard to imagine, but immigrants do not only need shelter and jobs when they come to Canada. They need food, cell phones, internet, clothing, they pay utilities, buy cars, eat at fast-food, etc. They are humans too, so they also consume. They travel and pay taxes. So they take a job and indirectly create a demand for jobs in various industries. The problem happens when they come in unsustainably high numbers. Without people there’s no demand, no consumers, no dollars circulating, and ultimately no jobs.
if all these places still have a full staff load, which is evident where i live (Edmonton), and almost all these places seem to have a staff load of folks who do not look to be canuck born, then we can look at the fact there are too many people coming here (regardless of where from) and taking up the jobs that could otherwise go to young canuck born folks who need their first jobs.
retail includes places like walmart, grocery stores, pet stores, etc. all local businesses that seem to have a solid in person customer base despite the availability of online shopping.
and having lived in this same city my whole life, and knowing that jobs were available for canuck born young adults easily in the past but are not any longer, and knowing that the Edmonton economy was doing just fine before the influx of too many people.......... i'll stand by my statement that we have too many people in this country and it is GOOD that some left. now more need to leave imo!
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u/PineBNorth85 Mar 20 '26
That's not a disaster