Oh Canada…

The latest news: April’s housing stats will look better than the doomer kiddos and burn-it-all-down losers who scuttle about in this blog’s steerage section expect. New housing sales – at least for places with dirt – have jumped since the feds dumped the HST. That seems to have been the right move.

As for resales, condos are still RIP but the rest of the market has stumbled back to life. When the stats are out next week they’re expected to show an uptick in sales and a stabilization in prices. That’s despite a rate uptick caused by Trump’s war. And it might – just perhaps, maybe and perchance – signal a nascent rebound off the bottom of this price plunge.

If so, recent buyers are smart. If not, they’re too early or just greater fools, to be spanked by more declines to come.

But we think the former.

Here’s the first reason…

The economy is far stronger than most people think. Yes, Pierre Poilievre is lying to you. We are not in the G7 cellar for growth, but anticipated to have the second-best performance this year. The federal budget shortfall is too much, but $11 billion less than we thought.

As for Carney ‘doubling the deficit’ – is that so?

In dollar terms, it was true for a few months. In terms of the economy, it’s bunk. Our deficit is less than 2% of GDP, compared with 7% in the USA and an average of almost 5% across all industrialized countries.

And guess what? We’re still growing. Despite the Trump tariffs. Despite high gas and energy prices. Despite increasing bond yields. Despite a population no longer swelling. Despite politicians who daily tell us the place is broken and compared to America we’re a backwater.

Well, remember these three things when you hear such bleating.

First, as the headline above references, our GDP is just ducky. Growth is almost tracking that of the US (now 2%), and we don’t have Pete Hegseth to worry about. Our economy has grown for the last four months straight, and we’re now seeing a sharp rise in manufacturing along with a surge in mining and O&G extraction. If we can get an extension or even a pale version of the existing trade pact with the evil empire this summer, it’s all good.

Second, if things suck hard here, howcum so many American wish to emigrate?

Maybe you missed this headline in the New York Times…

Thousands of Americans are making plans to come to Canada and provincial registries have been bombarded with enquiries about maple ancestors since the law changed in December. A Harper-era ban on Canadian citizenship by lineage (which I was apparently the genesis of in 2006) has been removed. Now Yanks with moose or beaver grandparents (or earlier) can get in the door.

So while the US battles birthright citizenship, Canada is one of the very few countries in the world now willing to extend it to descendants of those who came from here.

“The number of successful applications by U.S. nationals for Canadian citizenship by descent rose by nearly 50 percent in January compared with January 2025, to 2,470 from 1,715, according to data from the Canadian immigration ministry. It was the first month for which data was available since the new rules came into effect… Following a court ruling, Canada expanded citizenship to the descendants of Canadians born outside the country before Dec. 15, 2025.

“The change could extend Canadian citizenship to “potentially millions of people around the world, many of whom have never lived in Canada and may have only a distant ancestral tie to it,” said Rick Lamanna, a Toronto-based partner at Fragomen, a global immigration and relocation company.”

Canada. The shining country on the hill. Seriously. For many people this is the promised land. America without, you know, so many Americans. Especially the king.

And finally, I hope you caught what happened in Buffalo’s hockey stadium a few nights ago. The Sabres were playing the Bruins and, as the local custom has it, our national anthem was sung at the opening.

But the mic croaked. The lass singing it was rendered mute. So 20,000 Buffalo fans – with a few Canucks mixed in – gave a lusty, full-throated and perfect version of O Canada. Followed by cheers.

Listen. Watch. These are our neighbours. Our friends. And our admirers. Have some pride. We earned it.

About the picture: “Roxy has graced your famous blog before,” writes Jeff.  “We were at a friend’s barn the other day and something up above captured her attention and kept it most of the day. After an hour or two I took this picture to send to my wife. It wasn’t until I got home that I noticed it was a pretty cool photo. She’s currently sleeping on my lap while read today’s post. Thanks for making the financial world easy to understand and entertaining all at the same time.”

To be in touch or send a picture of your beast, email to ‘garth@garth.ca’.

Source: https://www.greaterfool.ca/2026/04/30/oh-canada-3/