Murphy’s Logic: The effects of population growth

Heading into this new year, two of this country’s most-pressing problems are at least partially explained by the law of supply and demand.

We have neither enough affordable housing, nor timely access to primary health-care because the demand for each of these necessities is badly outpacing our ability to supply it.

In each of the last two years, the population of Canada has grown by more than one million people. We haven’t seen growth rates like this since the 1950s. Back then, it was fuelled by the post-war baby boom. Today, much of it is attributable to immigration, and for the first time in decades our smaller provinces are getting our share.

With stagnant birth rates and existing labour shortages, Canada needs immigration if we are to continue to grow and prosper. But it is neither ethical nor sustainable to continue bringing in so many people if we can’t provide homes and doctors for them, let alone those who are already here. We do need immigrants to help address those same shortages, but current levels can't be maintained. Even the government’s plan to stabilize the number of new permanent residents at 500,000 by 2025 may be too many.

Increasing the supply of homes and health-care professionals will take time. We need to do a much better job containing the demand, beginning right now.