• Throwaway@lemm.ee
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    9 months ago

    Its two fold.

    There are a lot of regulations, which are not a bad thing, but they do slow things down and make everything more expensive.

    The sheer amount of immigrants. A million plus every year, year after year, adds up. Building a million homes a year would be tough for any country.

    • CanadaPlus@lemmy.sdf.org
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      9 months ago

      There are a lot of regulations, which are not a bad thing, but they do slow things down and make everything more expensive.

      Are they really that much more restrictive than US regulations? Like, easing some of them (especially zoning!) is a great way to help, once the money issue pointed out here is taken care of, but the US industry looks really similar on paper while producing a lot more houses per capita.

      The sheer amount of immigrants. A million plus every year, year after year, adds up. Building a million homes a year would be tough for any country.

      That could be a factor, but if a lot of them work in construction that should actually be helpful in the long term. (And of course, blaming them makes me nervous for reasons that have nothing to do with economics)

      • sbv@sh.itjust.works
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        9 months ago

        That could be a factor, but if a lot of them work in construction that should actually be helpful in the long term.

        It looks like very few new Canadians work in construction:

        New immigrants currently constitute only 2.0% of construction workers in the country, and thus more efforts need to be made to facilitate their smooth transition into the Canadian infrastructural market.

        I suspect that we’d need a concerted effort to adjust our visa and immigration programs to increase those numbers. AFAIU, the points system rewards white collar credentials. Trades-oriented credentials seem to require Canadian experience in the temporary foreign workers program.

        • CanadaPlus@lemmy.sdf.org
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          9 months ago

          Huh. Yeah that’s a problem, at the very least going forwards.

          AFAIU, the points system rewards white collar credentials.

          Yes, I don’t understand it all because it’s really complicated, but executive experience gets you more points that anything else, which is ridiculous given the roles that are made available to new Canadians.

      • Pyr_Pressure@lemmy.ca
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        9 months ago

        A lot of construction is unionized and requires skills and training. Many immigrants cant just up and start in construction just anywhere. Especially housing which is also restricted by trades like electricians, plumbers, cabinetry, flooring, drywall, painters, etc.

        • CanadaPlus@lemmy.sdf.org
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          9 months ago

          Yeah, I’m sure for something like electrical you wouldn’t want someone fresh from the third world in charge. Framing, on the other hand, should be eminently doable.

          Hmm, what is the unionisation rate?

          • Pyr_Pressure@lemmy.ca
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            9 months ago

            Even framing has a lot to learn. Not a lot of stick frame construction done outside of North America.

            • CanadaPlus@lemmy.sdf.org
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              9 months ago

              Does it? I wasn’t aware there was a way to mess it up that bad. I used electrical because of the stricter safety standards.

              It’s also worth mentioning that if we’re talking, like, poor refugees, they tend to be far better with their hands than first world people, since they were mending, building and working fields while we were all reading textbooks. I’m guessing the elites that we tend to prefer are more comparable to us.