Is immigration causing youth unemployment？
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Summary
A man charged with fraud targeting immigrants to Canada received a reduced sentence because he too is an immigrant. Canada is hemorrhaging money with the country s current account deficit hitting an all-time high of $21.2 billion in the second quarter of 2019.
Transcript
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Canada is hemorrhaging money with the official account deficit hitting an all-time high of 21.2
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billion dollars in the second quarter of this year. Alberta Premier Daniel Smith vowed to seek
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more provincial control over immigration while answering a grandmother concerned about high
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immigration levels coupled with high youth unemployment. A man charged with the alleged
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fraud targeting of new immigrants to Canada received a reduced sentence because he too is an
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immigrant. Hello Canada it's Friday August 29th and this is the True North Daily Brief. I'm Cosmin
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Georgia. And I'm Wally 1010. We've got you covered with all the news you need to know. Let's discuss
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the top stories of the day and the True North exclusives you won't hear anywhere else.
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Canada's money keeps heading out the door. According to Statistics Canada the country's
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current account deficit hit an all-time high of 21.2 billion dollars in the second quarter of the
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year. The drop is largely due to weaker exports according to the National Data Agency. The
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agency's report on international payments released on Thursday wrote quote the previous highest current
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account deficit on record occurred in the third quarter of 2010 when contribution to the overall
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deficit was more evenly spread between the goods services and investment income components of the
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current account. Goods exports dropped over 13 percent in the second quarter their lowest value since
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the fourth quarter of 2021. Imports of goods also declined four percent to 201.8 billion dollars in the
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second quarter of 2025. Both exports and imports reached record highs in the previous quarter. The
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report reads quote the trade in goods deficit increased by 19.1 billion dollars to a record high of 19.6 billion
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dollars as exports recorded a much larger decline than imports. The goods trade surplus with the United
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States narrowed from 31.3 billion dollars in the first quarter to 10.1 billion dollars in the second
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quarter. Record quarterly declines in exports of energy products motor vehicles and parts and consumer goods
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were the main drivers. Imports and exports of services also fell as did the travel services surplus due to
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less spending by U.S. travelers in Canada and Canadians in the U.S. The report adds quote foreign portfolio
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investors reduced their exposure to Canadian securities by 16.8 billion dollars in the second quarter following
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a 5.8 billion dollar divestment in the first quarter. The divestment in the second quarter was the largest since
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the fourth quarter of 2007. So Walid I want to point to an article that we put out uh just a few days ago
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actually. It's not only in terms of our account deficit that where money is leaving the U.S. but also
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Canadians are investing in U.S. stocks at the highest level since the 90s. So so much for this elbows up
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approach when even Canadians are treating U.S. Investments as safer and more profitable than keeping money
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in the country. So this report Walid mentioned weak exports as a driving factor of the divestment
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of capital in Canada. What are some ways that the government could be addressing this issue?
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Well yes you're right and I believe the report you're referring to from earlier this week mentions the figure of
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Canadian investors putting in 124 billion dollars into U.S. stocks this year. So in terms of what the
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government can do to remedy the situation is as Carney has said before reducing inter-provincial trade
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barriers and expanding market access. Now Carney hasn't exactly done very much to do that so far
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but in terms of our biggest potential natural resources that would require building pipelines to
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access more marketplaces to reduce dependence on one or more partners. Of course lowering business taxes,
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cutting red tape, ensuring that these projects are actually getting built could make our exports more
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attractive globally because currently our export market seems to be under strain. Only in April Canada
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suffered its largest ever merchandise trade deficit reaching 7.1 billion, indicating that there is a lower
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confidence in our ability to export and attract global buyers. Another opportunity would be creating more
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incentives for manufacturers especially in our tariffed auto and energy sectors. Possibly that could help
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offset global demand slowdowns. Inserting pipelines and more transport infrastructure built could actually get
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Canadian oil and gas to those other markets. And lastly, stable fiscal policy. It really matters and Carney has not
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delivered anything different than what Trudeau has delivered. If investors were able to trust Canada's
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economic direction and our dollar were to stabilize more, it would help turn in more exporters.
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During a public panel on Wednesday, Commissioner Daniel Smith was challenged by a
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grandmother who expressed frustration that her grandchildren were unable to find work despite
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the ongoing influx of temporary foreign labour by Ottawa. Speaking at the Alberta Next panel and Lloyd
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Minister, the woman told Smith, she believes federal subsidies for foreign workers are giving businesses
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incentives not to hire young Canadians. I don't think it's a provincial issue, I think it's a federal issue, but
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it's really hard for my grandchildren to get jobs right now because federally I believe the federal
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government is sponsoring the, not like you ma'am, but the illegal immigrants, 50% minimum of their wages and then the
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businesses pay the other 50%. So my grandchildren don't have a shot at getting a job because they're not
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financeable because they're Canadian. I don't know how to address that, but it's a frustration for a lot.
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Smith acknowledged the concern, calling youth unemployment in Alberta, quote, alarming.
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She noted the jobless rate for young men aged 24 is around 19%, well above the historic average of 9 to 11%.
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Smith said, quote, we probably have to create some kind of incentive program to give young people
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that opportunity to have a first job. If we don't give that kid a first job, then they don't get their
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second job and their third job. The premier said her government will roll out a new policy next week
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aimed at helping young Albertans break into the workforce. Smith also linked the issue to what she
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described as unprecedented federal migration levels. Noting Alberta has taken in 450,000
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newcomers in the past three years, far above what the province historically observed. She said, quote,
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if we were to get back to a more normal level of population growth, it would probably be about
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50,000 newcomers a year. You're seeing the pressure, higher housing prices, order to rent, crowded schools,
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difficulty getting a doctor. These are why people are connecting those two things. Smith said,
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Alberta will seek more control over immigration, similar to Quebec, to align newcomers with economic
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needs. So, Kozman, what are the conservative politicians saying about this? What has Polyev said,
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Yeah, well, so as you point out, it's not just Premier Smith raising the alarm here. Conservative
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leader Pierre Polyev has been hammering this issue too, especially this week out in Charlottetown, where
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he delivered a press conference responding to these stats. He pointed out that while Canadian youth are
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seeing the worst job numbers in a quarter century, it's the Liberal government that's bringing in a record
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number of temporary foreign workers. He says that's driving down wages, driving up youth unemployment,
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and robbing young people of crucial first jobs. And I was actually just looking at some of the
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foreign job postings. So basically, when an employer wants to hire temporary foreign workers,
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they have to apply with the government for something that's called LMIA, Labor Market Impact Assessment,
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where they try to prove that no Canadians are applying for these jobs. And when you go through
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these job postings, it's very common to find jobs that most young people would consider their first job.
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So like a cashier at a gas station, a line cook, you know, just simple waiting tables, those types of jobs
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that were reserved for younger generations to enter the workforce and gain some experience,
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make some money to pay for their education or just to get out on their feet and move out. But all those
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jobs somehow in towns, places in Alberta, like rural places like Slave Lake, are unable apparently to find
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any Canadian willing to do that job. And I find that really hard to believe. And you can really see this
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frustration on the ground. We put out a report earlier this week also about the Canadian National
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Exhibition in Toronto, where 55,000 applications for just 5000 seasonal jobs were received. And it's,
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you know, not a stretch of the imagination to realize that it's a lot of young people applying for these
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jobs, but also a lot of new immigrants, but also potentially temporary foreign workers trying to
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get these seasonal jobs. And seasonal jobs are the type of jobs that should be going to students because
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their lives are essentially seasonal with going back to school and furthering their education.
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So that's young people desperate for entry level work competing with each other, while also competing
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with the entire world. And at the same time, multinational corporations get government backed
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access to cheaper labor overseas. So I think the message is pretty clear that both Smith and Poliev
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are hammering. Ottawa's mass immigration and foreign workers schemes are putting the squeeze on Canadian
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youth, and it's making it harder to find work. Therefore, they can't afford rent. And it's impossible
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A 53 year old man charged in connection with an alleged fraud targeting new immigrants to Canada
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received a reduced sentence because he too is an immigrant. Raphael Layton was sentenced to six
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months in jail after pleading guilty to a fraud count involving 15 victims, most of them recent arrivals
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to the country who were duped in phony car sales deals. Ontario Superior Court Justice Clayton Conlan
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handed down the sentence in Milton on June 30, acknowledging Layton's non-citizen status as a mitigating
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factor that could lead to immigration consequences, including potential deportation. Conlan said in oral
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reasons, quote, I also take into consideration the potential immigration consequences given that Mr.
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Layton is not a Canadian citizen. The case law is clear that one cannot consider immigration consequences
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to move what would otherwise be a fit sentence into the realm of being an unfit sentence. But I do not
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think that six months in jail is at the low end of the range. The judge stressed that while immigration
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factors cannot render a sentence unfit, they warranted a reduction here, describing the six months term as,
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quote, relatively lenient and justified given the immigration consequences and the mitigating effect
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of his guilty pleas. The judge noted the sentence was originally set at 10 months but reduced to nine
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months, less four days to account for harsh pre-sentence custody conditions. Layton, who has a prior
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criminal record including four convictions from 2009 unrelated to fraud, must also serve three years of
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probation upon release with strict conditions including no contact with victims, restrictions
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on vehicle sales or financial rules, and mandatory counseling. Waleed, has there been any other recent
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cases where we've seen judges give more lenient sentencing because of somebody's immigration status?
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Also, we've actually seen some other cases and some cases that could probably make a blood boil where
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the immigration status tipped the scales towards leniency somehow. A big one for me is the case of
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Akash Kumar Kant, an Indian foreign national in Ontario. He tried to buy sex from someone that he thought
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was a 15 year old girl. This was actually during a sting operation by the police. It turned out to be an
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undercover officer. Normally, that would almost certainly mean jail time. But Justice Paul Amara gave him a
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conditional discharge. No prison, largely because of the risk that a conviction could lead to a deportation
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for Kant and his wife. That stands in sharp contrast with similar cases. For example, a 19 year old Canadian,
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Arian Farooji, was sentenced to seven months in prison for trying to lure what he thought was an underage girl.
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Even though he was younger, a first-time offender, and had strong rehabilitation prospects, he didn't get the same break.
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So Kant's case sows the same principle as Raphael Layton's fraud case. Judges weighing immigration's
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consequences to lower the punishment overall, and it creates the perception of a two-tiered justice system,
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That's it for today, folks. Thanks for tuning in. You can stay on top of new episodes every weekday by
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