🏗️🇨🇦 A year of national service, expanding points-based immigration, poaching the best innovators

And updates to the Platform Tracker

United Canada Through a Year of National Service

What if we introduced a mandatory one-year civic service program?

Canada is experiencing an unprecedented decline in national cohesion. Only 34% of Canadians report being "very proud" to be Canadian. This disconnect is particularly strong for young people – 13% of Canadians would join the US under annexation, rising to 43% for those under 35.

Beyond pride, community engagement has collapsed. Fewer than 20% of Canadians donate to charities and a severe military recruitment crisis has the Canadian Armed Forces about 15% below authorized strength.

Meanwhile, provincial unity threatens to divide us, with only 30% of Quebecers feeling deeply connected to Canada, while Western provinces have seen Canadian pride plunge by ~25% in the past decade.

Other countries facing similar challenges have successfully implemented national service programs. Singapore's mandatory service brings together Chinese, Malay and Indian citizens to live and train together. Israel uses its military service as a way to forge a nation, teaching Hebrew and instilling shared values.

A national Canadian Civic Service program could reconnect Canadians with each other and their country, build valuable skills, and address critical national needs.

This would be a mandatory one-year civic engagement requirement for all Canadian citizens between 18 and 30. Service paths will be roles that advance the public interest and promote national unity. Military options could include armed forces or cyber defence corps. Civilian options could include national infrastructure projects, public health roles, environmental efforts or civic tech.

🫡 Read the full proposal for national service

Recognize Commitment to Canada in Immigration

Canada should reward immigrants' success and contributions to the country, not just evaluate their qualifications prior to arrival.

Canada has long prided ourselves on our approach to immigration, but troubling trends have emerged. Immigrants are feeling increasingly disenfranchised – only 46% of permanent residents choose to become citizens, down 40% in two decades.

More concerning still is the "leaky bucket". 1 in 5 immigrants eventually leave Canada, with over 1/3 do so in the first five years of arriving.

When immigrants leave quickly after arrival, they become a net drain on society. They consume settlement resources, healthcare and education, without giving back long-term to our economy and communities. There's a large population of Canadian expats – around 600k – who fall in this bucket.

At the same time, public support for immigration has collapsed. For decades, 60-80% of Canadians agreed that immigration was a positive contribution to society. Now, 58% say Canada accepts "too many" immigrants, 57% believe that immigrants are not accepting Canadian values, and 35% believe that immigration increases the level of crime.

Yet, committed immigrants who put down roots in Canada show remarkably positive outcomes. They drive entrepreneurship, are more likely to volunteer, and are even more likely to donate to charity.

We must reverse recent trends. People must feel like we are integrating and setting up immigrants for success, or they will stop supporting bringing more people to the country.

With so many people wanting to immigrate to Canada, we have the ability to accept only those who want to contribute to the Canadian economy and society. Rather than the current system that only evaluates qualifications prior to arrival, let's change to the system to also consider activities after an immigrant has arrived.

All immigrants will receive a two-year temporary visa with work authorization, regardless of the stream they came in (economic, family reunification, asylum, student, etc.)

Immigrants can earn points for paying taxes, working, starting a business, completing degrees, enrolling their children in school, volunteering, or completing civics courses. Immigrants will lose points for failing to pay taxes, relying on social services, or committing crimes. A minimum number of points is needed to qualify for permanent residency and citizenship.

✅ Read the full breakdown of the proposed points system

A Discovery Visa to Attract the World’s Best Innovators

The US has seen recent cuts to research funding, immigration crackdown, and political interference in universities. 75% of US scientists now say they're considering leaving.

This is Canada's opportunity.

Canada has long been a great destination for research. We've won 5 Nobel Prizes in the past decade. We boast strong academia, and world-class institutions in quantum and AI like Perimeter, Vector, and MILA.

Immigrants make up an outsized portion of these institutions. They make up 26% of our nation's workforce but account for 35% of computer programmers, 42% of physicists, and 57% of chemists. This matches global trends – 42% of top-tier AI researchers work in a different country than they received their undergraduate degree.

Amidst the uncertainty of the US, many researchers are eyeing Canada for its stable, supportive and high-quality environment. University of Toronto recently recruited multiple tenured Yale professors.

This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to absorb world-class talent that is disillusioned and displaced. But we must act fast. Other countries are already pouncing at the opportunity to poach them.

We propose a Canada Discovery Visa:

• Require $0 financial commitment

• Take no more than 30 days to process

• Require a Master's, PhD or PostDoc in at least one strategic area

• Be granted based on merit and nomination from a Canadian research institution or company

• Include consideration for one of the 1,000 Canadian Discovery Research Chairs

What's more, we can ensure that for everyone who comes, their ideas stay, get commercialized, and build long-term wealth here:

• Tie research grants to commercialization outcomes

• Align our accelerators and incubators to support commercialization efforts

• Provide a fast-track to permanent residency for immigrants who file patents or start businesses locally

🎯 Read the full plan to poach the best innovators

---

Updates to Real-Time Platform Tracker

New dynamic categories: search for any topic you’d like and see what both major parties have promised on it to date (e.g. “energy”)

Timeline view: see mentions of a particular promise over time

🧭 Check out the Platform Tracker

---

What Else We’re Reading & Listening

I've [Shane Parrish] invited both major party leaders to share their visions because I'm deeply concerned about how public discourse has degraded into angry soundbites. We've lost the ability to explore complex issues with patience and good faith. This conversation is my small effort to model what better dialogue might look like.

🎧 EMERGENCY ELECTION: Pierre Poilievre's Plan for Canada's Comeback on The Knowledge Project. Listen/watch on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Youtube.

Liberal Leader Mark Carney and Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre have both promised to fast-track approval processes… “I would be surprised if this type of limit could work without substantial legislative change.”

🗞️ Carney and Poilievre have promised they’ll get major resource projects done faster, but is that actually possible? [Globe & Mail]