Canada is making the USA look like a third- rate country after Trump made us a look second-rate.

[Samrob]

Canadian stance on immigration will soon pay off big for them. They should contract with Abbott and DeSantis to transport immigrants from our southern border to them. Texas and Florida: paying to make Canada Great Again.

[Bev54]

1. The difference is we have the luxury of picking who and where our immigrants

come from. The US is the only border country we really have, other than the few that would come by sea. We need a large number (for us) immigrants to take the million or so jobs unfilled, especially right now in healthcare, so we are looking for specific experience.

[Initech]

2. Talk radio and Fox are largely responsible for what's happening now.

Abbott and DeSantis are garbage human beings but we can’t forget that they are regularly egged on by shitty right wing talk show hosts. Imagine where we would be without right wing propaganda frequently fucking things up!

[Martin68]

3. On the other hand, Canada just passed a law prohibiting non-citizens from purchasing real estate in

urban areas. So I guess they're welcome as long as the rent.

[Fiendish Thingy]

4. It's not just non-citizens, and not just urban areas

The law covers the entire country; you don’t have to be a citizen to purchase real estate, you can be a permanent resident, or have a student or work visa. Even those with refugee status can buy property.

What you can’t be is an offshore millionaire buying property to flip or launder money.

Of course, there are loop holes; the law only applies to properties of 3 units or less. Offshore buyers can still “invest” in apartment buildings without restriction. No mention of the rules for numbered shell corporations of indeterminate origin (which are fairly common buyers of high end residential homes in Vancouver and Toronto).

https://www.cmhc-schl.gc.ca/en/media-newsroom/notices/2022/ensuring-housing-owned-canadians

I would love to see Canada welcome refugees and immigrants from Latin America, but there has to be a process. Canada’s process is faster and fairer the the USA’s, but it’s still highly regulated.

[Martin68]

5. According to the article I read in the NYT, it's not that simple. The law was aimed at offshore

buyers and wealthy investors, but it cast a much wider net than is widely known.

"Beginning Jan. 1, America’s neighbor to the north will ban most foreigners from buying residential property for two years. Why?...in June, without fanfare, the prohibition on foreign buyers was signed into law. In fact, it had gone largely undetected, even by many real estate professionals...Mr. Trudeau and other politicians have said little about the law since it passed, and it has received scant coverage from local media outlets. “Trying to get information from the government about this has been a hell of a task,” Ms. Côté said.

That may be because the law has stirred accusations of xenophobia. As immigration numbers hit all-time highs in Canada — census data released in October revealed that immigrants now make up 23 percent of the population, with the vast majority coming from India and China — some industry veterans say there is a connection.

Non-Canadians “got a lot of blame for the housing crisis, and it was a big issue politically,” said Brendon Ogmundson, chief economist of the British Columbia Real Estate Association. “But the pandemic shut off nearly the entire segment of foreign buyers, and prices still hit an all-time high. That’s evidence that foreign buyers are not significant drivers of the market, and this ban will not affect anything.”

Michael Bourque, the Ottawa-based chief executive of the Canadian Real Estate Association, called the law “an affront to Canada’s brand as a welcoming, multicultural nation.”

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/12/29/realestate/canada-bans-foreign-buyers.html

[Fiendish Thingy]

7. It says nothing different than what I said

If someone immigrates to Canada on a permanent resident visa, or on a student or work visa, they can buy residential property. The link I provided says even refugees can buy property.

This only blocks foreign buyers who don’t have status in Canada from buying residential property of three units or less. They can still buy apartment buildings.

There’s a long standing myth that foreign buyers are driving up the prices, but the fact is those sales are a small percentage (5-10% in the Vancouver area) of total transactions, and prices are much more affected by , until recently, historic low interest rates, and the fact that the government insures a large portion of mortgages, reducing risk for lenders.

[Martin68]

8. Perhaps the article is a bit confusing. I came away with the distinct impression that in urban areas

it may apply to "someone immigrates to Canada on a permanent resident visa, or on a student or work visa." The article made it clear that the government has not answered question about this with total clarity.

[Silent3]

6. Canada isn't so welcoming that I could have moved there

As a software engineer I probably have what would be considered valuable skills, but at 60 y/o, not enough time left in my working life for Canada to benefit much from them.

Since the "red wave" didn't appear in November I'm feeling a bit better that we've at least delayed the collapse of democracy in the US. I've certainly been considering my options if I wanted to escape this country, however, and the sad thing is there aren't any countries I'd really want to live in who would take my wife and myself, certainly not as citizens with all of the benefits of citizens.

I want the US to be more welcoming. But most countries with a high standard of living, stable democracies, and good social support systems are very picky about who they allow in, even more than the US. They can only afford to offer their benefits to people who, one way or another, are either bringing in lots of money or who have high potential to earn a lot of taxable income over many years.