The Science Council of Canada (SCC) was established in 1966 by the government of Lester B. Pearson. Its purpose was to advise the government on science and technology issues, promote science education and research, increase public awareness of science and technology issues, and assess Canada’s scientific and technological resources, requirements and potential. It was dissolved in 1992 by Prime Minister Brian Mulroney.
In 1976, the Science Council produced its Report No. 25, Population, Technology and Resources. It looked at population growth in Canada and the changing demographics in Canada and the world and noted that rising living standards meant increased per capita consumption. In the covering letter to the Honourable C.M. Drury, Minister of State for Science and Technology, SCC chairman Josef Kates writes:
“The Report draws attention to the way a rapidly growing population would exacerbate the stresses caused by existing patterns of production and consumption. It notes the probability of greatly increased pressures on Canada’s urban areas, transportation systems and related social and political institutions. Uncertainty about the extent of non-renewable—especially energy —resources is noted, and the potentially adverse effects of climatic fluctuation on Canada’s renewable resource base is considered.”
Advocating moderate growth of the population (when Canada’s population was about 23 million), Kates argues that “Canada’s flexibility and capacity to solve domestic problems and assist in solving world problems – through trade or aid – would be seriously diminished if population continues to increase at a rapid rate.”
This point is also made in the Report, which states on page 16 that:
“In no way could Canada ever solve the world problem of overpopulation. Even if we maximized immigration and allowed our population to soar to 100 million people over the next 25 years, we would absorb only one year’s world population growth at current fertility rates.”
The 1976 Report noted that prime agricultural land in Canada was being set aside for urban development at a time when the number of food-exporting countries had decreased dramatically and there was a growing dependence on North America to make up food production shortfalls, that conflict over land would arise between agricultural use and development, that there was a lack of planning and research about future energy supplies, and that Canada was among the most energy-intensive countries in the world.
The Report was very clear about the fact that Canada’s resources were not only finite but under pressure. It specifically noted (p. 63) that, “Canadians should recognize that we live in a capital-intensive society and that we should no longer rely on immigration to regulate the economy.”
Yet starting in 1990 with the government of Brian Mulroney (which dissolved the Science Council in 1992), Canada has pursued a policy of mass immigration, regardless of the party in power. Mulroney was a supporter of the Century Initiative, an organization founded in 2011 precisely for the purpose of driving Canada’s population to 100 million. Under the government of Justin Trudeau, this objective seemed to have been implemented as policy, and the accelerated intake of all categories of newcomers led to the housing crisis that followed the Covid pandemic of 2020-2021.
