meta_pixel
Tapesearch Logo
Log in
Freakonomics Radio

582. Why Is Everyone Moving to Canada?

Freakonomics Radio

Freakonomics Radio + Stitcher

Documentary, Society & Culture

4.632K Ratings

🗓️ 28 March 2024

⏱️ 50 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

As the U.S. tries to fix its messy immigration system, our neighbor to the north is scooping up more talented newcomers every year. Are the Canadians stealing America’s bacon? (Part three of a three-part series.)

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

Hey there. It's Stephen Dubner.

0:07.0

This is the third and final episode in a series

0:09.2

we are calling the true story of America's

0:11.8

Supremely messed up immigration system.

0:14.7

One big question we've been asking is how does immigration affect the economy?

0:19.5

The answers we've heard are pretty compelling. Immigration creates this conveyor belt of investment.

0:26.0

Immigrants tend to bring large benefits to the country that they come to.

0:31.0

The truth is that the dream is real. The American dream is a foundational part of our

0:37.1

history. For generations, the U.S. has been powered by immigrants. In turn, those immigrants prosper, or at least their children do.

0:46.3

There are some serious startup costs to being a first generation American.

0:50.6

But right now, immigration is a mess. The legal immigration system is outdated, complicated, overwhelmed.

0:59.0

And illegal immigration has spiked over the past few years which only further overwhelms the legal system.

1:05.9

There's also this. Many of the smartest and most talented immigrants are getting thrown out of the country

1:11.9

because there aren't enough permanent

1:13.3

slots for them. Now pretend for a minute we're not talking about a country but

1:19.6

instead a company and if you saw that this company, which happens to be the runaway leader in

1:25.6

your industry, was struggling like this, you might try to find a way to capitalize, right? Well, it appears that our neighbor to the north is doing just that.

1:37.6

We said to ourselves, why don't we ask about 10,000 of them to come to Canada to fill the gaps that we have?

1:42.4

It filled up within a couple of hours.

1:44.7

Canada has supercharged its immigration program and the country is one of the fastest growing

1:50.0

advanced economies. Look at it this way, If you are one of those people who every four

1:54.8

years says you are moving to Canada, if your candidate doesn't win the presidency, well it's

...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Freakonomics Radio + Stitcher, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Freakonomics Radio + Stitcher and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.

Copyright © Tapesearch 2025.