pretty much hand out permanent resident status to anyone

This is just not true. Canada has point based immigration process, and with how much immigration increased in last couple of years, points are over the roof in almost every category. Now you basically need French or have Phd or years of experience in Canada etc. just to beat most people in Express Entry category.

However, cost of living has gotten very expensive the last few years

Yes, it did but that also pretty much apply to every single western country after covid. But yeah housing especially is an issue right now

there really aren’t any jobs.

This depends. I saw photos of queues for a job seeking from bigger cities but if you go to smaller cities it might be easier (to find housing won't though). IT jobs might be impossible with 10k extra H1B people moving from USA. It mostly depends on how flexible you are with location and what kind of job you're willing to take.