NDP MP Jenny Kwan recently called on Prime Minister Mark Carney to replace Immigration Minister Lena Metlege Diab over growing delays at Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC), she gave voice to the frustrations of countless applicants and their families.
She is right about one thing.
Government inefficiency should not impose needless suffering on ordinary people. But replacing one minister will not solve the problem. The crisis we are seeing today is not simply an IRCC problem. It is the consequence of a broader capacity problem that Canada has ignored for years.
In the summer of 2019, during an interview on Metro Morning in Toronto, I raised a concern that received little attention at the time. My concern was not immigration. My concern was capacity.
I questioned whether Canada had adequately prepared its housing supply, healthcare system, educational institutions, immigration-processing systems, and labour-market infrastructure for the growth it was actively pursuing. Seven years later, current events suggest those concerns were justified.
Even before the pandemic, warning signs were visible. Housing affordability was deteriorating. Emergency departments were overcrowded. Family doctors were becoming harder to find. Transit systems were struggling to keep up with demand. Employers spoke about labour shortages while many immigrants found their education and experience underutilized.
Yet Canada continued pursuing ambitious growth targets. The assumption appeared to be that capacity would eventually catch up. It didn't.
Today's IRCC delays are merely one symptom of that failure.
Many applicants have followed every rule. They paid their fees, maintained legal status, worked, paid taxes, and contributed to their communities. Yet many still face uncertainty because their applications remain trapped in processing queues. Among those affected are Hong Kong pathway applicants and other temporary residents whose permits approach expiry while awaiting decisions. Some face interruptions to employment, healthcare eligibility, and family stability through no fault of their own.
This is only a request for a competent government.
When government invites people to build their futures in Canada, it assumes a responsibility to process applications within a reasonable timeframe. What makes the situation even more frustrating is that Canada did not enter this decade lacking resources.
During the pandemic, the federal government committed more than $212 billion in direct support through its COVID-19 response programs. In fiscal year 2020-21 alone, the federal deficit reached $327.7 billion, while program spending increased by nearly 80 percent over the previous year. Many would argue that emergency action was necessary. The question today is whether that extraordinary spending left Canada with stronger long-term capacity.
Governments spoke of modernization, resilience, housing construction, infrastructure investment, and preparing Canada for the future. IRCC launched a digital modernization initiative intended to replace aging systems and improve processing. The federal government introduced major housing programs designed to increase supply and accelerate construction. Yet, many Canadians continue to experience a different reality.
Housing affordability remains one of the country's biggest concerns. Millions still struggle to access primary healthcare. Immigration applicants continue to face delays and uncertainty. Infrastructure in many communities has failed to keep pace with population growth.
The issue is not that government failed to spend money. The issue is whether government converted spending into lasting capacity.
After years of unprecedented expenditures, Canadians are entitled to ask a simple question: Are our housing systems, healthcare systems, public infrastructure, and government services meaningfully better prepared for growth today than they were in 2019? If the answer is not clearly yes, then the discussion should no longer be about how much money was spent. It should be about whether the right priorities were pursued.
My view is straightforward. The immediate priority should be rebuilding capacity for the people already here: citizens, permanent residents, and those already contributing to Canadian society. That means restoring housing affordability, improving healthcare access, reducing administrative backlogs, expanding infrastructure, recognizing professional credentials more efficiently, and creating economic opportunities for current residents.
A government's first responsibility is not to announce bigger targets. It is to ensure the systems Canadians depend on can serve the people who are already here.
Canada is not the first country to confront this issue. Australia, the Netherlands, and Denmark have all been forced to grapple with the relationship between population growth and capacity. Different governments adopted different policies, but all eventually recognized the same reality: housing, healthcare, infrastructure, and administrative systems cannot be treated as an afterthought.
That was the concern I raised in 2019. Not that Canada should stop growing. Not that newcomers are the problem. But that growth without corresponding investments in housing, healthcare, infrastructure, and administrative capacity would eventually strain the very systems Canadians depend on.
Seven years later, Canadians are still asking the same questions:
Why can't they find affordable housing?
Why can't they find a family doctor?
Why are public services overwhelmed?
Why are immigration applicants stuck in limbo?
The issue was never growth itself. The issue was whether Canada prepared for it.
Before setting higher targets, government must first meet its most basic obligation: ensuring the people already here can access the housing, healthcare, infrastructure, and opportunities they need to thrive. Only then can growth be sustainable.
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