My family immigrated to Canada twice, so why am I now against our current immigration system?

Canada has long been a nation shaped by immigrants. Families like mine who arrived in search of a better life and brought with them the willingness to build one. My family immigrated to Canada twice in a century and we love this country!

In 1875, my ancestors were among thousands who accepted the Canadian government’s invitation to settle the Prairies. They were fleeing the rising tide of unrest in the Russian Empire, where German and Mennonite communities were facing increasing hostility. Canada promised freedom, land, and peace. In return, they offered their: sweat, skills, and loyalty. My people tilled soil, built towns from scratch, paid taxes, raised families, and became Canadians. Not just in name, but in heart. They didn’t ask Canada to change for them, but they adapted, and they contributed. They wove their threads into the fabric of the nation and made it stronger.

History has its trials. In the 1920s, when new education laws in Canada restricted the right of parents to teach children in their native language along with English and according to their faith, some of my ancestors paid the price, quite literally. They were fined, jailed, and forced to choose between their convictions and their citizenship. Thousands chose exile, moving to Mexico to preserve the freedoms they believed they had come here for.

Years later, in the 1980s, my parents brought our family back to Canada. The laws had changed, and once again this country held promise that valued religious freedom while emphasizing civic responsibilities. We reintegrated, worked hard, and raised a family while preserving some of the cultural practices and values passed down through generations. We never expected Canada to revolve around us, and we did our part to keep it strong. Like those before us, we were a net benefit, not a burden and I like to think that we helped build a stronger community where we settled.

This kind of immigration: measured, purposeful, and rooted in mutual respect, helped shape the best parts of this country. In recent years, especially since 2015, something has changed. What we’re witnessing now no longer resembles immigration as a nation-building exercise. It’s become something else, and it feels sinister at times. We have immigration that is:  faster, larger, less principled, and increasingly disconnected from the country’s actual capacity to absorb it.

In 2015, Canada welcomed about 271,000 new permanent residents. By 2023, that number had soared to over 430,000. When you add in the: millions of temporary foreign workers, visitor visas with overstays, international students, asylum seekers, and undocumented migrants, the scale becomes even more staggering. Yet, no matching investment in housing, healthcare, or infrastructure followed. Our cities are buckling, tent encampments are multiplying, and housing costs are rising far faster than wages. As a result, young Canadians, both immigrant and native-born alike, are being priced out of the dream their parents built. This isn’t sustainable, and more importantly, it isn’t fair.

Even the Bank of Canada has acknowledged that record immigration is a significant factor in the housing crisis, but instead of pausing to adjust, our leaders press on, citing GDP growth while ignoring the real-life costs being paid by everyday Canadians. Per capita income is falling. Social services are stretched thin, and the social contract that unwritten agreement that hard work leads to progress, is quietly unraveling.

What’s most concerning is that assimilation has gone from being an expectation to a taboo subject. In place of integration, we’re watching the rise of enclaves, fragmented communities, and imported ideologies that clash with Canadian values. Too often, it seems that some newcomers arrive not to join Canada, but to replicate the very places they left behind. This is often not the fault of the immigrant, but by design of those who hold the levers of our immigration system. They are not fomenting this chaotic invasion by accident. It is a wholesale attack on what made Canada so wonderful and attracted our families to settle here. So, we need to ask ourselves; why do we allow it?

This isn’t about xenophobia at all, it’s about honesty. We owe it to both Canadians and immigrants to maintain a system that works for everyone. Canada doesn’t need to close its doors, but we do need a pause. A chance to catch our breath and a chance to build the: homes, schools, hospitals, and transit that real growth requires. A chance to reaffirm that immigration should strengthen a country and not strain it to a breaking point.

Let us demand a return to a model where newcomers are welcomed not just for arriving, but for being ready to contribute. Let’s favour those whose skills match our needs, whose values align with ours, and who want to be part of a shared future. My ancestors (and probably yours) helped build this country. They sacrificed, adapted, and gave back more than they took. Canada gave them a home, and they made it better.

That’s immigration that works. We would be wise to remember it.