[gambiting]

That sounds like "child support" should be taxed then. If expats can send "millions of dollars" to family in Canada and they don't pay a single cent as tax, then it's a tax system problem. And hey, on the other hand, if that family spends those millions in Canada, then it's a net benefit :P I'm sure even if the "income" is not taxed, all the money they spend actually is, so their amount of taxes paid to Canada might be significant.

[itsybitsycoder]

For sure it's a tax system problem, but in the usual case (where it was already taxed once in Canada) it makes sense not to double-tax child support.

AFAICT most of the money isn't spent here, it's parked here as a hedge in case something goes south in the home country, usually in real estate holdings. The biggest effect I can see is that housing in the city is too expensive for the locals now so families are being driven out into rural areas.