Century Initiative

The Century Initiative (French: Initiative du Siècle) is a Canadian charity that aims to increase Canada's population to 100 million by 2100.[2] This would include increasing the population of "Mega-regions", such as the Greater Toronto Area, from 8.8 to 33.5 million, the Greater Vancouver region, from 3.3 to 11.9 million, and the National Capital Region, from 1.4 to 4.8 million.[2] The Century Initiative intends to reach its population goal by reversing the falling fertility rate through a massive increase in immigration, and to supplement it by investing in economic development around "mega-regions."[2][3] The official mission statement reads as “Growing our population to 100 million by 2100 would reduce the burden on government revenues to fund health care, old age security, and other services.”[4][5] Century Initiative forecasts predict that without changes to Canadian immigration policy, the population of Canada will increase to only 53 million people by the end of the century.[3]

Century Initiative
AbbreviationCI
Founded2011
TypeLobby group
BN 843519638 RR0001[1]
Legal statusFoundation
FocusPopulation growth, immigration
Location
Area served
Canada
Key people
Lisa Lalande, CEO

Mark Wiseman, chair of the board

Dominic Barton, co-founder
Websitecenturyinitiative.ca

The Century Initiative was co-founded by Mark Wiseman and Dominic Barton, who also led the Trudeau government’s Advisory Council on Economic Growth.[6][7] The Initiative is supported by former Conservative Prime Minister Brian Mulroney[8] and by influential Liberal Party advisors including advisors to former Minister of Finance Bill Morneau.[9][10] The Century Initiative has been listed on Canada's lobbyist registry since 2021 and has organized meetings with the immigration minister's office, the minister's parliamentary secretary and Conservative and NDP MPs.[11]

History

The Initiative was founded "by a group of prominent Canadians" in late-2009 as the Laurier Project.[12] Initially large scale population expansion and immigration was not the stated goal of the project. The project's four areas of exploration were: The Arctic, Smart Nation, Virtuous Energy, A Genius for Getting Along.[12] Many prominent Canadians served on the Laurier Project's board or were advisors to the project, such as Chrystia Freeland, David Naylor, and Nadir Mohamed.

In 2011 the project shifted to population expansion.[13] It was later rebranded and reorganized as the Century Initiative.

In March 2021, The Globe and Mail hosted a virtual event in partnership with the Century Initiative examining key indicators of the Century Initiative’s progress towards growing Canada’s population to 100 million by the year 2100.[14][15] The Century Initiative has been written about by columnists including Andrew Coyne,[16] Terence Corcoran,[17] and Doug Saunders, who subsequently authored the book Maximum Canada: Why 35 Million Canadians Are Not Enough.[18]

Early McKinsey & Company involvement

Multiple founders and affiliates of the initiative were employed by McKinsey & Company.[12] Such figures include initiative co-founder Dominic Barton, who established the organization when he was the head of McKinsey & Company. Furthermore, the inaugural executive director of the initiative (then known as the Laurier Project) Aleema Jamal was also previously employed by McKinsey. Furthermore, in 2016 four of the initiative's five "volunteers" were employed by McKinsey.[12] In 2016, one third of the initiative's manpower was employed or formerly employed by McKinsey & Company.[12]

As of January 2023, the Century Initiative has a current McKinsey executive on its board of executives.[11] The Century Initiative has been connected to a scandal over McKinsey consulting expenses by Justin Trudeau's government, in which whistleblowers have highlighted McKinsey's large and growing influence over Canadian immigration policy.[11][19][20][21][22] Dominic Barton also served as the Trudeau government’s ambassador to China from 2019 to 2021, and left the position during an embroiling national security issue.[23]

Connections to BlackRock

The Century Initiative Board of Directors is chaired by co-founder Mark Wiseman, who was BlackRock's Global Head of Active Equities and ran Blackrock's Alternative Investment division at the time that the Initiative was founded[24][25] BlackRock's Alternative Investment division includes the firm's international real estate investment portfolio[26] and is reported to be actively purchasing single family homes.[27] The Century Initiative's co-founder, Dominic Barton, is married to Geraldine Buckingham, BlackRock's Asia Pacific chief, which has previously generated conflict of interest concerns.[28]

Criticism and Debate

The initiative is advanced by Dominic Barton, a man who served as the managing director of McKinsey & Company, a multinational consulting firm. Barton has strong ties to the People's Republic of China, which is a totalitarian one party state. He formerly lived in Shanghai and Beijing for extended periods. Barton has had many dealings with both authoritarian and kleptocratic regimes.[29] Currently Barton is believed to reside in London, England.[30] Barton has not resided in Canada for decades.

The initiative is also advanced by Mark Wiseman who previously was employed by BlackRock. BlackRock owns $35 billion in real estate and it could possibly benefit from a real estate bubble.[31]

The initiative may lead to the largest population expansion of any advanced country in human history.[32]

Increasing Canada's population growth rate will put pressure on infrastructure, housing and the medical system.[33]

No advanced country has embraced a mass immigration policy while retaining a policy of multiculturalism. The initiative will accelerate population growth in Canada, as well as multiculturalism, and the consequences of this are unknown. At this time the initiative does not have provincial or local backing or support.

Mega-regions

The Century Initiative envisions the Canada of 2100 as a nation of mega-regions, which it defines interlocking areas with more than one city centre and a typical population of 5 million or more.[2]

Mega-region 2016 population 2100 population (goal) Population change
Vancouver 3.3 11.9 +261%
Calgary-Edmonton 2.8 15.5 +454%
Winnipeg 0.8 1.7 +113%
SW Ontario 1.2 2.0 +67%
Toronto 8.8 33.5 +281%
Montreal 4.4 12.2 +177%
National Capital 1.4 4.8 +242%

References
  1. "Who We Are". www.centuryinitiative.ca.
  2. "CI report" (PDF). uploads-ssl.webflow.com. Retrieved 2021-05-09.
  3. ""UNMASKING THE FUTURE 2021 Environmental Scan"" (PDF). Retrieved 2021-08-19.
  4. Hopper, Tristin (2023-01-06). "Is an 'opaque' U.S. consultancy behind Canada's dramatic spike in immigration?". National Post.
  5. "Why 100M". www.centuryinitiative.ca. Retrieved 2023-02-25.
  6. "Dominic Barton - Co-Founder & Former Board Member".
  7. "Advisory Council on Economic Growth".
  8. Ibbitson, John (31 March 2021). "It's time for Canada to focus on expanding our population". The Globe and Mail.
  9. "Influential Liberal advisers want Canadian population to triple by 2100". Global News.
  10. "Finance Minister's key advisers want 100M Canadians by 2100". Toronto Star. 23 October 2016.
  11. "The value of one consulting firm's federal contracts has skyrocketed under the Trudeau government". Retrieved 2023-01-10.
  12. "Brief History of the Laurier Project". The Century Iniatitive. Retrieved 28 March 2023.
  13. Blatchford, Andy. "Influential Liberal advisers want Canadian population to triple by 2100". The Canadian Press. Retrieved 29 March 2023.
  14. "Supporting a growing Canadian population". The Globe and Mail. 8 April 2021.
  15. "Century Initiative and The Globe and Mail present People and Prosperity: Planning for Canadian Growth". www.centuryinitiative.ca.
  16. "Andrew Coyne: Increased immigration is good for Canada — and the reasons aren't only economic".
  17. "Terence Corcoran: 100 million Canadians? We could only hope".
  18. "Maximum Canada by Doug Saunders: 9780735273108 | PenguinRandomHouse.com: Books".
  19. "Influence de la firme McKinsey : l'opposition à Ottawa veut une enquête". Retrieved 2023-01-10.
  20. "Poilievre calls for parliamentary probe of Liberals' relationship with McKinsey consulting firm". Retrieved 2023-01-10.
  21. "Conservative leader calls for probe into federal contracts awarded to McKinsey". Toronto Star. 10 January 2023. Retrieved 2023-01-10.
  22. "Conservative leader calls for probe into federal contracts awarded to McKinsey". Retrieved 2023-01-10.
  23. "Canadian ambassador to China Dominic Barton resigns after two contentious years". National Post. 2021-12-06.
  24. "Canada needs to get to 100 million people by 2100: BlackRock's Wiseman". 21 August 2022.
  25. "Mark Wiseman leaving BlackRock after failing to disclose 'consensual relationship' with colleague".
  26. "Alternative Investments".
  27. "If You Sell a House These Days, the Buyer Might be a Pension Fund". Wall Street Journal. 4 April 2021.
  28. <url=https://www.thestar.com/vancouver/2019/09/18/canadas-new-ambassador-to-china-was-already-facing-questions-for-his-business-ties-his-marriage-is-raising-more.html%7Ctitle =Canada’s new ambassador to China was already facing questions for his business ties. His marriage is raising more|accessed=19 August 2022>
  29. Yakabuski, Konrad. "McKinsey still can't shake Dominic Barton's reign of error". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved 3 March 2023.
  30. "Dominic Barton Visiting Professor of Management Practice". Saïd Business School. Retrieved 29 March 2023.
  31. Lee, Evelyn. "BlackRock Real Estate makes more senior leadership changes". PERE. PEI Group. Retrieved 29 March 2023.
  32. "Population". OECD Data. Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. Retrieved 3 March 2023.
  33. Fox, Chris. "Ontario's population could grow by more than six million over the next two decades. Will we have the infrastructure to accommodate the boom?". CP24.com. Retrieved 29 March 2023.
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