Why Are Canadians Sleeping in Tents While Ottawa Pays for Hotels?

Doug Ford was blunt. Ontario’s hotels are packed with asylum seekers receiving full taxpayer-funded support—housing, meals, healthcare, education, and more. According to Ford, nearly 100,000 asylum seekers entered Ontario last year. That’s not just a number. That’s tens of thousands of people added to a strained system that’s already failing too many Canadians.

The premier called it a two-year, all-expenses-paid vacation. Harsh? Maybe. But look around and ask yourself: is he wrong?

Canada is not in a position to keep this pace. Not economically, not logistically, and not socially. The math no longer works. The system no longer works. And it's time we said so without apology.

Let’s be honest—this country is struggling to take care of the people who are already here. Our hospitals are understaffed and over capacity. Housing prices are out of reach. Social services are overwhelmed. Cities are declaring homelessness emergencies. Families can't find daycare, seniors can't get a family doctor, and food banks are seeing record demand.

Yet immigration continues as if none of that matters. The federal government keeps the doors wide open, despite warnings from economists, municipal leaders, and even international observers about our collapsing infrastructure.

We’ve lost control of the system. We don’t even know how many people are here illegally. Estimates vary, but conservative projections say there are over 300,000 people living in Canada without legal status. That’s equivalent to the population of Winnipeg’s entire south end—living in the shadows, not paying taxes, yet relying on public services.

Are you okay with that?

Because this is more than a policy debate—it’s a test of priorities. What’s more important: managing international perceptions or restoring domestic stability?

We can’t keep inviting tens of thousands of people into the country every month when we can’t house the ones already here. We can't keep stretching our schools, hospitals, and housing markets thinner and thinner, expecting them to hold. We can't ask Canadians to keep paying more and getting less, while newcomers are dropped into fully-funded support systems that many citizens can’t access themselves.

This is not about blaming immigrants. This is about holding the federal government accountable for failing to plan, failing to vet, and failing to protect the systems every Canadian relies on.

Canada’s immigration system is broken because it’s being driven by ideology and image, not facts and outcomes. And Canadians are the ones paying the price.

It’s time for a reset.

We need a full pause on immigration—at least for the next two to three years. Not forever. But long enough to catch our breath and fix the system. We need to stabilize housing, cut down wait times in hospitals, clear the daycare backlog, and give cities the resources to manage homelessness and addictions.

We need to invest in border enforcement and immigration processing. We need to vet asylum claims properly and deport people who don’t qualify. We need to prioritize skilled workers, family reunification, and economic contributors—once we have the capacity to integrate them.

Other countries are doing this. Australia, the U.K., and even the U.S. are reforming their systems with a clear message: immigration must serve the national interest, not just political agendas.

Meanwhile, here in Canada, our federal leaders are doing the opposite. They’re expanding intake targets, subsidizing hotel rooms, and ignoring the growing number of undocumented individuals slipping through the cracks. There’s no plan. Just spending.

At what point do we say, “Enough”?

Canadians are generous, but generosity without boundaries becomes exploitation—of both citizens and newcomers. We owe it to our seniors, our veterans, our working families, and yes, even our future immigrants, to make sure the systems they rely on actually work.

Right now, they don’t.

The federal government continues to run record deficits while adding more financial obligations tied to immigration. Who’s footing the bill? You are. Through higher taxes, through longer wait times, through more competition for housing and services. It’s not just unsustainable—it’s irresponsible.

We’re not saying “no” to immigration. We’re saying “not now.”

Let’s fix our healthcare system. Let’s build more affordable housing. Let’s restore order to our streets and ensure public safety. Let’s get our own house in order before we open the door to more guests.

That’s not radical. That’s common sense.

Leadership means making hard decisions, not just popular ones. It means saying, “We need to pause,” even if it upsets activists or international commentators. Because the job of a Canadian Prime Minister is to put Canada first. Always.

Prime Minister Carney must face this issue head-on. Enough with the slogans. Enough with the press conferences. Immigration policy should serve the national interest, not virtue signaling.

Canadians are watching the system bend—and eventually, it will break. Unless we act now.

Let’s not wait for that. Let’s hit pause. Let’s stabilize. Then we can welcome newcomers into a country that’s strong enough to support them—and proud enough to say we did it the right way.