Prince Edward Island, Canada's smallest province with a population of only 176,000, has had enough of mass immigration.
In February 2024, the Premier of PEI announced cuts to international nominees for permanent residency through the Provincial Nominee Program (PNP). These permits, meant for temporary workers and students, often lead to permanent residency.
The changes will prioritize healthcare, childcare, and construction workers while deprioritizing food, retail, sales, and service workers. Essential work comes first.
This means a 25% reduction in permits, mainly hitting low-skill food service jobs. Hundreds of food service workers in PEI won't have their documents renewed and will have to leave or face deportation.
It's nice to see the little guys taking the lead! PEI is the first province to push back against mass immigration.
The Indian community, specifically, is unhappy about this 25% reduction and began protesting on May 9. And they haven't stopped since.
Since 2006, the influx of Indian immigrants has turned what was once a thriving Scottish, Irish, and Welsh community into a province with a cultural identity problem - with a lot more downsides than you'd think.
PEI, once known for the Anne of Green Gables house and its red dirt ideal for growing potatoes, has become one of the worst provinces to live in.
Due to mass immigration, the population has grown extraordinarily, driven almost entirely by immigrants and non-permanent residents. This has caused several problems. PEI doesn't have enough homes in the first place, and its building developments haven't caught up with demands — PEI is only building 200-300 new housing units each quarter.
This means the price of homes has skyrocketed, and rent is the fastest-growing in the entire country.
Prices have gone up, but wages in PEI rank at the very bottom. It also doesn't help that PEI has the second-highest unemployment rate in Canada.
PEI is bringing in tons of immigrants, but the fertility rate is only 1.22 children per woman. Yikes.
Despite all of this, the Indian community is not backing down without a fight. These protesters have three demands.
Rupinder Pal Singh, who immigrated from India to Canada in 2023, has been the leader of the protest and told India Today what their focus is:
First, we demand to be grandfathered into the Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) system because we were already here, working on valid work permits, before the new rules were implemented. It is only fair that those who were present before the changes be allowed to continue under the old system.
Secondly, we call for fair PNP draws without a point system. Recently, sales and services, food sectors, and even truckers have been excluded from the PNP draws, despite our hard work and contributions. We deserve the same opportunities as other sectors, and the current point system, which requires 65 points, is nearly impossible for those under 25 to achieve.
Lastly, we demand an extension of our work permits. Due to the government's changes and economic issues, our work permits were effectively wasted, causing many of us to lose our jobs. It is only fair that our work permits be renewed to compensate for the lost time and opportunities.
He added that if their demands are unmet by May 16 and they are not grandfathered in, they will give their protest "another name."
This will be hunger strike to death.
Umm, okay? It's May 23 today, and I haven't heard any reports of starvation in PEI...
But it looks like they're dealing with some other problems of their own!
As Chris Brunet perfectly laid out: This is just nuts.
It's not good for PEI; it's not good for Canada.
And you know it's bad when immigrants themselves agree things are getting out of hand!
According to a Leger poll, Southeast Asians in Canada are the most against immigration, with 64% saying it's too high. Southeast Asians, Chinese, South Asians, and Filipinos in Canada are all more anti-immigration than white immigrants.
Let that sink in.
It's good to see one province finally making some sense, but this is just the beginning.
In 2018, PEI offered 1,070 PNP slots, which doubled to 2,050 in 2023. So, even with this new 25% reduction to 1,600 in 2024, it's still way higher than in 2018. But hey, it's a step in the right direction.
P.S. Now check out our latest video 👇
