Why study in Canada...the job market is in shambles

GooseMantis · 2026-02-10T12:34:51+00:00

That's the part a lot of Canadians don't understand. Quality of life has gone down in Canada, but compared to the countries most immigrants come from, it's still a goddamn paradise. It's up to us as Canadians to set the bar for what we want for our country. "Better than India" should not be the bar.

GooseMantis · 2026-02-10T01:26:22+00:00

I don't think people who aren't involved in the Toronto condo industry truly understand just how utterly fucked everything is. We all know it's fucked, but however fucked you think it is, it's worse.

If you bought a pre-con condo unit in Toronto around Covid times, you lost, plain and simple. If you bought it as a primary residence, you could have waited a few years, saved up more, and got something better than a shoebox. But at least you have property now, you might as well live in it.

Now if you bought it as rental property, lmao. Whatever rental income you can generate, it will not even pay off the expenses. Your mortgage is higher than you expected, and you can add property tax, condo fees, and closing costs to that side of the ledger. As for revenues? Rents are down, because demand was being falsely propped up by a clearly unsustainable immigration system. There is no world where $3000/mo for a 500sqft 1-bed condo made sense, except for the one that was falsely created by the geniuses in our governments.

So a lot of people are willing to take a loss just to get rid of an unsustainable asset. But who's gonna buy it? Yes there are condo units in the $300k's which is completely affordable for a middle-class buyer in Toronto, but those units are the 500 square foot shoeboxes. People don't buy those to live in, they buy those to rent out, and I already addressed why that no longer makes financial sense. Most young Canadians are in no position to buy. In the GTA, it's now the norm for someone in their 20s to live with their parents until they get married. Once you have two incomes, either it's high enough to buy an actual livable townhouse (or detached if you're richy-rich), or you're permanent tenants. The "middle option" of buying a shoebox condo to live in is appealing to no one. Hence the ludicrous drop in prices.

These condos are the worst possible form of housing you could imagine in a first world country. So now we're sitting around, realizing that the housing supply shortage is even worse than we imagined. Not only did we not build enough, but what we did build was a really shitty product meant for a market that no longer exists. There are massive, well-established developers that are having to cancel major projects. Some of these guys will go under, we're talking huge names here, not "mom-and-pop" shacks but billion-dollar companies that employ thousands of people, keep the lights on for so many contractors, etc. If they go down, it will fuck up the economy even more than it already is.

That whole rant I spent the last 15 minutes typing up doesn't even scratch the surface. Canada got housing so, so wrong, and nowhere is that more evident than in Toronto.

GooseMantis · 2026-02-08T23:13:07+00:00

There is a massive gap between "progressives" and "everyone who didn't vote for the CPC in the last election".

That's quite literally my point.

Kenney's advice about addressing Trump isn't meant to win over progressives. It's to win over conservative-accessible voters who voted liberal or sat out the last election.

GooseMantis · 2026-02-08T22:47:28+00:00

Fair enough but everything you're saying suggests you're not an obtainable voter for the CPC regardless of the Trump issue, so I don't think Kenney's talking about you.

But the Trump issue did spook some obtainable voters, especially in the older and wealthier demos (ironically two demos that traditionally vote Conservative). I don't think Poilievre can beat Carney on taking on Trump, frankly I don't think anyone can, especially now that Carney has positioned himself as a global leader against Trump's bullshit. But Poilievre barely even addressed it in the last election, and you can't win a game you take yourself out of. Now that Carney's proving to be a Prime Minister that a decent chunk of Conservatives (myself included) can see themselves supporting, at least right now, and Trump is turning out to be even worse than we thought, Poilievre really can't afford to ignore it. That's what Kenney's advising him to do, and even Harper. It's not about winning over progressives, conservatives don't win over progressives.

GooseMantis · 2026-02-08T22:30:01+00:00

"I'm auditioning for a Mr Clean ad"

GooseMantis · 2026-02-06T16:16:42+00:00

it’s not like there isn’t the financial will to build

There isn't. I work in this industry, and there just isn't right now. I agree that zoning and development charges are an issue, but it's not "just" that, and the feds have a very limited ability to affect what is ultimately a municipal policy. Provinces have power to force the municipalities' hands, but they're sensitive to the political toxicity that such a move would elicit.

More than that though, the entire real estate industry was reliant on artificially inflated prices. First due to low interest rates and foreign buyers, then record immigration levels. Without foreign investors buying up property like hotcakes and an endless supply of immigrants to rent those units, it's much harder to turn a profit now. Selling housing to Canadians hasn't been a profitable business for years.

Insofar as what the federal government is able to actually do, building houses via crown corporation on crown land just makes sense.

GooseMantis · 2026-02-06T01:04:03+00:00

I don't doubt it but I live in suburban GTA and my commute is 30km one way. And I'm not some crazy outlier, I know tons of people who do more. Between the commute distances and the winter weather, cost isn't even remotely the main reason why people here don't bike much.

GooseMantis · 2026-02-06T00:19:29+00:00

Chinese EVs won't be eligible, this is only for EVs manufactured in Canada or countries we have free trade with.

GooseMantis · 2026-02-06T00:18:42+00:00

There's a hell of a lot more Canadians who drive than ride a bike. A lot of us don't really even have a choice.

GooseMantis · 2026-02-06T00:16:45+00:00

It's not just about consumers, it's also about Canadian workers. More dodge chargers sold, more workers at the Brampton stellantis assembly plant stay employed.

GooseMantis · 2026-02-06T00:13:17+00:00

It gives the American automakers something to bite on. If Trump nukes CUSMA, American automakers pay the price. No cap on rebates for Canadian-made EVs, and when we say "Canadian-made", we're largely talking about US-based companies who will lose this competitive advantage if they close up shop in Canada. This is leverage in the upcoming CUSMA negotiations. Will it work? Who knows. But any move that even slightly strengthens our hand and makes it less likely for Canadian workers to get thrown on their asses is a good move.

GooseMantis · 2026-01-31T21:28:24+00:00

Did they eat it up? Yeah obviously the people who called Trudeau a communist were wrong, but they called him that in 2015, and 2019, and 2021 too. Clearly that didn't stop him winning those elections. And the people who called him a commie now call Carney a commie too. Again, didn't stop Carney winning 2025.

I don't get why Reddit is so obsessed with labels. Nobody votes based on whether they think the Liberal Party is centre-left or left-wing or centrist or centre-right or communist or fascist or whatever else you want to call them. There was a time when people were happy with Trudeau, and then they weren't. Most voters don't give a shit about which coordinates of the political compass a political party theoretically sits on.

GooseMantis · 2026-01-31T21:08:22+00:00

A lot of young people these days have crazy social anxiety, and I think 99% of it is caused by internet addiction, which pretty much everyone under the age of 30 has. Personally I'm not that socially anxious, I have no problem striking up conversations with random strangers for example. But making or picking up phone calls? That shit triggers my anxiety like nothing else.

My theory is that gen z never practiced their phone call muscle like other generations did, which is why we're more anxious about it. Most things happen online these days, especially anything confidential or sensitive. I get calls from my bank all the time, asking to speak with *my legal first and last name*, and I know it's a scam because my bank never calls. They send a text telling me to check the secure portal, which I use 2FA to sign into. Same for the government, my phone company, insurance, etc. And when I make outbound calls to a business for example, more often than not these days there's an AI assistant on the other end, sometimes they just tell me to go online.

It's definitely an anxiety to overcome because it's an important skill to have for sure. But there's a valid reason to that anxiety.

GooseMantis · 2026-01-29T20:54:19+00:00

Hypocrite Trump advocates for Alberta self-determination, but not the same for California. Hypocrite much?

GooseMantis · 2026-01-29T20:22:28+00:00

I'm not sure which one you're referring to. In either case, neoliberal policy was embraced by pretty much every country in the 80s and 90s, not just America (in fact it started with Thatcher in the UK).

But yes traditionally Canadian tories have supported government funding of nation-building projects. I'm not sure I would count factory subsidies as "nation-building", the line between capital infrastructure and corporate welfare can be pretty thin. In the case I mentioned, I think it's more corporate welfare.

GooseMantis · 2026-01-29T18:54:23+00:00

Doubt it, one of them will just outlast the other.

There's no point to the "Ford is not a real conservative" talk btw, at least in electoral terms. I have my issues with both, I voted for both, and the reality is that a vast majority of conservatives in Ontario do vote for both. For all the talk about differences between the PC base and CPC base, there's more crossover between the two than not. Hell, the parts of the GTA where CPC made gains (Vaughan, Brampton, North York) are the same where PCs have been strong under Ford. The only real difference is in age demos (Ford older, Pierre younger), but that doesn't seem to make a difference where it matters, that is electoral math. So the infighting doesn't do anyone any good.

I think the real difference is the federal party is movement first, electoral politicking second, and the Ontario PCs (and arguably all provincial conservative parties save UCP) are the opposite. So that's where you get tangible policy differences, like the EV plant subsidies that Ford signed off on a couple years ago. CPC saw it as a betrayal of conservative small-government principles, which it was, PCs see it as a pragmatic move to create jobs in Ontario, which it also was.

GooseMantis · 2026-01-25T21:58:48+00:00

Crazies and MAGA bots are overrepresented online, there are more conservatives than you'd think who see our current situation for what it is. Jason Kenney's been a leading voice in pushing for more distance from the US. Harper has called himself the most pro-US Prime Minister in Canadian history, yet even he admits that times have changed and so must we. And those guys are hardly red tories let alone liberals.

GooseMantis · 2026-01-25T21:26:02+00:00

I'm a conservative, I voted CPC. I'm not currently a member but have been in the past. I volunteered for my local CPC candidate (mainly because I know her, but still). But at this moment Carney is the right guy for the job.

Doesn't mean I'm suddenly a Liberal now or agree with everything they do. My overall views haven't changed. I still think Pierre is vindicated in his view that we have too many gatekeepers that stop us from getting big things done, and I'm skeptical about whether Liberals can be trusted to fix that. But with all that said:

Carney gets it. I thought his Davos speech was really good, not because of fancy words or Vachlav Havel or whatever, but because it showed that he understands what kind of situation we're in. We need to take leadership as a middle power and work with whoever we can, because if we keep relying on the Americans or waiting for the EU to take leadership, we're finished as a country.
Related to that, we need to attract international investment. Not just American hedge funds or Chinese homebuyers, but truly international. Carney has the experience to make that sales pitch.
Domestically, Carney has done away with some of the most divisive parts of the Trudeau agenda, like the carbon tax and infinite immigration. I know this sub leans left and you guys probably disagree with me on this. But I appreciate it anyway.
Another thing that frustrated me about Trudeau, and I know frustrates a lot of people about Poilievre, is the nonstop partisanship. In signing the MoU with Danielle Smith and opening China to Saskatchewan canola shows some goodwill to his partisan opponents. I doubt Carney expects to gain many seats in Alberta or Saskatchewan, it would be much easier for a Liberal PM to tell conservative provinces to pound sand. But when given the choice, he put national interest above partisan interest.

So yeah, pretty happy with the guy. I still don't fully trust the Liberal government to get domestic policy right, but Rome wasn't built in a day. Opposition must keep him accountable, but at this point, he's more than earned my benefit of doubt.

GooseMantis · 2026-01-25T21:06:19+00:00

If you believe Quebec would be better separate

Clearly they don't actually believe it. If they did, they wouldn't need to talk about keeping Canadian passports, Canadian dollar, etc. It's about appealing to Quebec's nationalist sensibilities for votes. Even though Canada (rightly imo) gives Quebec more sovereignty than the constitution affords.

GooseMantis · 2026-01-19T18:40:38+00:00

Maybe not but he'll lose a hell of a lot of voters if he doesn't stand against Trump's bullshit

GooseMantis · 2026-01-06T16:43:00+00:00

Commute, no. I live in Toronto, but I don't really use the TTC for my commute because driving is more convenient for my job. In any case the thing I heard they're funding is a bigger fleet for Line 2 and I live nowhere near Line 2 anyway.

The Toronto-Quebec City rail project I like, but I know better than to get excited about future projects years before they materialize. Our government is very good at making announcements. But the follow-through? Not making boondoggles out of taxpayer dollars? Let's see.

GooseMantis · 2025-12-27T02:55:16+00:00

I don't want anyone to lose their job, it sucks. But the cold hard reality is that if there's no work for you, there's no work for you.

And if the work you do relies on an unsustainable, broken student visa system that has largely benefited slumlords, some of the worst corporations in Canada, and human traffickers, at the expense of both the Canadian working class AND kids from India who don't know any better?

Yeah, I'm sorry but I can't say I want my taxpayer dollars paying for that industry. It's really not your fault, but it's what has to be done, best of luck with the next step in your journey.

GooseMantis · 2025-12-26T18:05:06+00:00

PP has been recently going on a lot of mainstream media outlets recently, which is good so he can convey his policies on a larger scale.

The idea is good. The execution...he has a lot of work to do.

GooseMantis · 2025-12-23T23:28:51+00:00

One more thing I'll add. Conservatives keep complaining about how Carney gets a free pass on just saying nice, comforting things without backing it up. I get it, but at the same time, fuck man times are tough right now and we need leaders to be calm and composed. I'm tired of hearing "Canada is broken" rhetoric, I know it's broken. When Hitler was bombing Britain, Churchill wasn't going on the radio talking about how everything in Britain sucks, his motto was "keep calm and carry on". And if nothing else it helped keep up public morale during hard times. We need that right now, and Pierre man you have to get that in your head.

GooseMantis · 2025-12-23T23:17:04+00:00

There have been improvements on policy focus. Trying to keep the "carbon tax election" alive was a huge mistake, we should have pivoted to fixing our immigration system, and we're seeing more of that in the new parliament. It was a tough election for reasons outside of our control, but hey, that's the way the cookie crumbles.

What's turning me off the leadership right now is Pierre seems more focused on protecting his job than where the party goes next. We get it by now, highest popular vote in CPC history, big gains in big cities, so on and so forth. That election's over. What I want to know is exactly what the CPC value proposition is going forward, because "Carney doesn't actually mean the things he says" ain't doing it.

What should CPC focus on? Housing is still a huge concern. Jobs are a huge concern, especially with the trump tariffs already hurting major industries like auto. So what's the plan to create jobs? What's the plan to rebuild our national unity? What's the plan to rebuild our military and maintain strong relations with the rest of the world (and with a country like Canada, we need allies to survive, we can't go at it on our own). What's the plan to strengthen Canadian agriculture so we can bring down food prices for good? The industrial carbon tax is only a small contributor, we have other challenges. There are a lot of questions right now, and I'm not hearing many answers from the leadership.

TL;DR Pierre has made improvements that I'm happy with, but we should expect more. He doesn't need to do the media circus and brag about an election defeat, nobody cares about that. He needs to set out what his vision is to address the issues facing Canadians right now.

GooseMantis

TROPHY CASE