More Canada

Today is Canada Day. I thought a lot about what it is that makes Canada great today, and what we should be working on to make it greater still.

As far as I can tell, the ability to attract smart foreigners from around the world is Canada’s greatest advantage, and may be the only one that really matters in the long run.

Though we do welcome record numbers of immigrants every year, it’s a bit surprising to me that we don’t welcome many more. More people typically means more ideas, which means more innovation and ultimately more economic growth.

There are few policy measures we could enact that would do as much to elevate our standard of living and our standing in the world as radically increasing our immigration targets. And thankfully, our federal politics have reached an equilibrium where all three major parties are extremely pro-immigration.

A country who’s politicians compete on who is more welcoming of immigrants is a country with a bright future. We just need to push them to compete harder.