low salaries in canada existed long before trudeau and will exist long after.

They've always been lower, but it was always 20%ish lower. Now it's like 50%.

And in the meantime, housing prices have gone up exponentially. Housing in greater Toronto is more expensive than the Bay Area, but the compensation is far far lower.

I'm not one to blame Trudeau personally, or even immigration per se. I think there's a multitude of factors. But it's best not to deny the situation, which is that in the last few years there's been... problems... in the Canadian SWE labour market.

Lump of labor fallacy. The pie is not fixed.

fallacy fallacy. The pie is not fixed, but does not necessarily grow >1:1 when people are added.

Right it grows larger.

not necessarily, thats my point.

It's not the quantity / size of pie. It's the fact that the Canadian labour market has explicit "escape valves" for "skilled labour is too expensive" built in as a policy plank in the form of the LMIA and TFW process.

They are tools that "industry" lobbied for expansion of, and got. Have persisted through both Conservative and Liberal governments for decades, but was expanded markedly under both Harper and (especially) Trudeau.