As someone born in and has all my family in BC, Canada; I barely lucked out securing a house in 2020. This was thanks to a white collar career and financially literate partner.
There is no next stop. Look at Canada's housing crisis if you want to see where the United States is headed.
What is so horrifying? He's hiring startup developers who need self-direction.
Look like his rationale is if you can't speak high level and you can't resist over-engineering solutions; it isn't going to work out. That saves everyone time and sounds reasonable to me.