With rising unemployment and the cost of living, Canadians’ attitudes toward immigration have shifted, with the majority feeling that the numbers are too high. The Liberal government has woken up to this sentiment – albeit belatedly – and after nine years of strongly pro-immigration policies, has begun to hit the brakes. The strongest indication of this reversal came last week when Prime Minister Justin Trudeau admitted that temporary immigration, including international students, in the country had grown at a pace Canada couldn’t keep up with.
Trudeau, in the past, would bristle at any suggestions that immigration was too high. On Tuesday in Nova Scotia, he said his government was now trying to bring the number down.
“Over the past few years, we’ve seen a massive spike in temporary immigration – whether it is temporary foreign workers or international students, in particular, that have grown at a rate far beyond what Canada has been able to absorb,” Trudeau said at a housing announcement in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia. “To give an example, in 2017, two percent of Canada’s population was made up of temporary immigrants. Now we’re at 7.5 percent. That’s something we need to get back under control.”
Given that Canada’s population is 41 million, according to Trudeau, the country has 3 million temporary immigrants. The majority of those are international students.
“We want to get those numbers down. It’s a responsible approach to immigration that continues with our permanent residents, as we have, but also holds the line a little more on the temporary immigration that has caused so much pressure in our communities,” Trudeau concluded.
Trudeau’s statement is in stark contrast to the open-door philosophy the government has sworn by for so long. In fact, two years ago, the government was warned by federal public servants that large increases to immigration could affect housing affordability and services. The Trudeau government ignored the warning and doubled down on its immigration targets.
Now that everything has gone pear-shaped, the Liberals want to bring the number of temporary immigrants down to 5 percent of the population – or about 2 million people.
What does that mean for temporary immigrants who are in Canada, and those who are abroad but want to migrate to the country? Experts say temporary immigrants here stand to benefit if they are looking to become permanent residents, as the government will prefer to fill PR slots with those who are already here. This would help them bring down the number of temporary immigrants as well as meet their lofty annual permanent immigration targets.
For those abroad, however, getting into Canada will become that bit harder as spots for permanent residency up for grabs would reduce considerably.