For more than a year, immigration has been at the forefront of the political agenda, and the subject of heated exchanges in the Commons. Polls have shown that Canadians’ long-standing support for increasing the number of new arrivals has dropped in the past two years, amid fears about the cost of housing and strains on health care.
But during the election campaign so far, immigration has been relegated to a second-tier concern. The threat to the economy and job security posed by U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs and other “pocketbook issues” has eclipsed it as an issue, even though border security – fuelled by Mr. Trump’s barbs about illegal migration from Canada – has been in the spotlight for months.
