Unless we have more babies, immigration is important

The subject of immigration in Canada is a thorny topic. There are those who are ‘fer it’, and those who are ‘agin’ it. Let’s explore that for a bit.

The fact is, according to the latest data from Statistics Canada, the fertility rate in Canada continued to fall from 1.63 in 2010, to 1.58 in 2014. Fertility rates are based on the number of live births in a given period. For all essential purposes, that is a little over 1.5 kids per household in 2014. At this rate, Canadian parents are not even replacing themselves in their children. If Canada was a closed system, then we would be a dying country.

Declining population is not just an issue in Canada, as it is also an issue for most of the developed nations of the world. When we transitioned from an agrarianbased economy to an industrial-based economy, and now towards a knowledge/technology-based economy, having large families was not a necessity for Canadian families; in fact, large families became a liability, as kids cost money. So, Canadians began having fewer and fewer kids, which brings us to our current fertility rate. Clearly this is not a sustainable model.

We could try the same thing that Quebec tried back in 1988, offering a $500 bonus to families having a first child, $1,000 for a second child, and then in 1990, $6,000 for a third child and more. Quebec felt that the only way to ensure its future was for Quebecers to have larger families. In the short time the bonus system was in effect, the Quebec fertility rate went from 1.4 to 1.52.

As I mentioned above raising children is expensive, and while Canada doesn’t have a definitive number, unlike some other countries, you’re looking at about $250,000 to raise a child. That ain’t peanuts!

So, since we don’t see Canadians growing larger families, and since we don’t want Canada to disappear, we have to rely on immigration to grow our population. That’s the long and short of it. If you don’t like it, that’s too bad.

Talking to folks on the street, or trolling through social media, you’ll hear fears expressed about the loss of jobs to immigrants, misspent tax dollars going to support immigrants while they get on their feet, the fear of terrorists hiding under burkas, and most of all a fear that with all these immigrants arriving in our country our laws will be changed to accommodate them.

A lot of these sentiments come from a place of ignorance, and not a little from security issues, given the seemingly increasing acts of terror taking place all over the world, including here in Canada. The fact is that the link between immigration and increased incidents of crime in Canada is just not there.

A review of authentic sites from a Google search corroborates the fact that there is actually decreased rates of crime in areas populated by settled immigrants.

Refugees and regular immigrants who have applied to come to Canada go through a very rigorous vetting process. These are folks who tend be very thankful for the opportunities available to them in their adopted country, and they tend to go to great lengths to fit in.

So, unless established Canadians decide that they will re- verse the trend, and start having larger families, having a dynamic immigration program is very important to the growth of Canada.

If you’re still having difficulty wrapping your head around the acceptance of this idea, then you might take some consolation in the fact that the majority of immigrants tend to settle in urban areas, so the demographic nature of rural Colchester County will change only very slowly, unlike the Greater Toronto Area which now counts immigrants making up 52.4 per cent of its population.