‘For the first time ever, Canada plans to reduce its temporary residents and set a cap on temporary immigration’, said Immigration Minister Marc Miller on Thursday.
As of now, Canada has seen an increase in international students, foreign workers and temporary residents who come to the country on limited-time visas as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government relied on immigration to grow economy.
Liberal government has also come under pressure for its immigration policies, with critics arguing they have worsen a housing crunch. Some of the services provided by the provinces, such as education and healthcare, are also struggling to keep up with population growth.
‘Over the next three years, the government wants to reduce temporary residents to 5% of the total population from 6.5% in 2023’, said Miller. That would be a cut of about 20% from Canada’s 2.5 million temporary residents in 2023.
Miller will conduct a meeting with his provincial and territorial counterparts in May to finalize the plan. Miller told, ‘We need to ensure the number of temporary residents coming to the country is at a sustainable level’.
Referring to the federal government’s immigration targets he said, ‘We will expand the immigration levels plan to include both temporary resident arrivals and permanent resident arrivals’.
The Trudeau government said in November that it will stop ramping up immigration for permanent residents from 2026 onwards.
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