The top 10 politics stories of 2024

One of the hot topics in politics this year will be immigration. The government plans to welcome 485,000 new permanent residents this year—roughly 1.2 per cent of the current population—and 500,000 in both 2025 and 2026. The goal is to boost the economy, fill labour shortages and compensate for Canada’s lagging fertility rate. The problem, critics say, is that Canada doesn’t have the housing, public resources or resettlement services to absorb that many newcomers in such a short period of time. But Immigration Minister Marc Miller insists that the influx of new Canadians is essential to solve deeply entrenched problems like the housing crisis: the government’s intention is to bring in the kinds of skilled workers who can build new housing stock.

You can expect immigration issues to dominate the headlines in 2024. That’s why we included it in our list of the top 10 stories in politics in our 2024 Year Ahead Issue. The issue is chock full of top 10 lists. If you want to know the most important things that are about to happen in business, health care, culture, sports, housing and more, this is where to find them. We provide insights into new cancer treatments, workplace trends, the vicissitudes of the economy and more. Poring through Maclean’s top 10 predictions is the best way to get ahead of news and be ready for what the future holds.

—Sarah Fulford, editor-in-chief

Any sports fan can tell you that attending games in person is becoming a luxury experience in this country—and the price of being a fan will continue to rise in 2024, writes business professor Ken Wong. People will keep shelling out to sit in crowded bleachers with family and friends and get rowdy in a sea of fans. And if they can’t afford to do it at Canada’s hottest games, they’ll find somewhere else.

Last year was an incredible one for Canadian film. Sarah Polley won an Oscar for Women Talking, Celine Song destroyed the festival circuit with Past Lives, and Emma Seligman directed the cult-comedy of the year with Bottoms. But, as Blackberry filmmaker Matt Johnson points out, none of these films are eligible for Canadian funding—because American studios paid for them. In this essay for Maclean’s, Johnson argues that we need to redefine Canadian film: to take financial production out of the equation and make it about creative ownership.

REAL ESTATE

PICK OF THE WEEK

This three-storey amalgamation of glass, steel and chrome in West Vancouver is famous for its curved, white steel structure. It’s a masterpiece of late-’70s modernism by one of Canada’s most iconic architects, Arthur Erickson (and, for Liam Neeson fans, it doubled as the glass mansion owned by a drug cartel leader in the 2019 action flick Cold Pursuit.)

Subscribe to Maclean’s
We’re telling the stories you need to read. Subscribe to the magazine today and save up to 70% off the cover price.

Copyright © 2024 All rights reserved

SJC Media, 15 Benton Road, Toronto, ON M6M 3G2

You are receiving this message from St. Joseph Communications because you have given us permission to send you editorial features

Unsubscribe