KEY INSIGHTS AND ACTIONS

Safeguarding our future

Requires a focus and a plan to grow well

Population growth, immigration, and prosperity are at a pivotal stage both in Canada and globally. Canada is on track to reach 100 million people by 2100, while remaining a stable, democratic society. Achieving this target requires significant efforts to support both natural population growth and immigration. However, poor performance on indicators like housing affordability, infrastructure investment, and climate change could undermine these efforts.

Building a stronger future means more than just growing our population – it’s about growing well – through immigration, infrastructure investments, economic management, support for children and families, and education. It’s about preserving Canada’s position on the global stage as a beacon of freedom and opportunity. It’s about planning for a bigger, bolder, more resilient Canada and working together to get there.

Prosperity in peril

The urgent need for Canada’s economic recharge

Canada struggles with major economic challenges including productivity, business spending on research and development, and leveraging home-grown intellectual property. At the same time, households are facing rising cost-of-living pressures. To build a resilient economy, Canada must focus on innovation-driven business growth, expanding the Indigenous economy, and effectively implementing its ambitious child-care strategy.

Now more than ever, public-private collaboration matters. This means investing in infrastructure to boost productivity, reforming tax incentives to attract business spending on R&D investment, reducing barriers to foreign investment, and supporting all Canadians to join the labour market.

Canada must leverage its natural resources and world-class talent to accelerate the commercialization of Canadian ideas while attracting more R&D, innovative technology, and investment opportunities, including in the Indigenous economy. The time for transformative action has arrived. Canada’s leaders must meet it.

Canada’s immigration reality check

Creating a world-class future-ready labour and talent pool

Recent declines in public support for immigration levels stole national headlines in 2023. However, Canada’s global reputation remains strong, and the country continues to attract talent. The focus must now be on ensuring that newcomers – and all Canadians – have access to affordable housing, that stronger programs are in place to encourage newcomers to stay and become full citizens, and that the benefits of immigration extend beyond the largest cities to the entire country.

The government's recent announcements to reduce the number of temporary resident admissions and include these groups within the immigration planning process are positive developments. This work – which is key to restoring public confidence in our immigration system – will also require improving settlement services, recognizing foreign credentials in key sectors, and ensuring sustainable funding for our post-secondary institutions.

How to use this Scorecard

All Canadians can explore the role that growing Canada’s population can play in building long-term, sustainable, and shared prosperity.

Governments can identify critical areas of focus for public policy change and investment. They can use the Scorecard to inform the public on the need for action on priority areas and the risks of maintaining the status quo.

The business sector can identify challenges and interconnections between areas such as education, training, infrastructure, climate, and immigration. This knowledge can enable businesses to lead by improving business practices and advocating for policy change that will enhance Canada’s investment environment and the country’s global standing.

The non-profit sector and labour can mobilize community partners, donors, and stakeholders around local and national actions that can influence social and economic well-being and further Canada’s ability to build a country founded on sustainability and shared prosperity.

The academic community can explore priority areas for research that will deepen understanding of key challenges to Canada’s future prosperity. They can also leverage the Scorecard to mobilize existing research that proposes solutions to challenges the Scorecard identifies.

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