Books, Big Ideas, Q&As

Immigration was usually as newsworthy as functioning plumbing, until everything changed

For immigration’s positives to outweigh the negatives, and for voters to believe it, care must be taken and details must be sweated. Canada’s answers were never perfect, but for a long time, it did immigration better than most. Why was the Canadian way of immigration abandoned? And how can we get it back, and even improve on it?

Author Tony Keller writes 'a country that prided itself on welcoming newcomers as future citizens also discovered that most immigrants were now coming through alternative routes not included in official immigration targets. Canadians were the last to learn that there was an immigration side door, which was busier than the front door.' Book cover and author photograph courtesy of Sutherland House Books

Feature

BY TONY KELLER

May 11, 2026

The following is an excerpt from Borderline Chaos: How Canada Got Immigration Right, and Then Wrong, by Tony Keller, and published by Sutherland House Books. The book is a finalist for the 2025 Donner Prize for the best public policy book of the year.

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