In a significant policy shift, Immigration Minister Marc Miller announced plans to end uncapped temporary immigration to Canada. This move is in response to growing public concerns about the impact of high immigration numbers on housing affordability and other social pressures.
In 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic, Canada issued over half a million new study permits and work visas, welcoming 522,110 temporary residents. By the end of 2023, this number had more than tripled to over 1.6 million temporary residents.
At the same time, housing became increasingly unaffordable, leading to a shift in public opinion. A July poll indicated that 60 percent of respondents believed too many immigrants were coming to Canada.
Reacting to this sentiment, Miller has limited study permit applications to 606,250 for this year, a 40 percent reduction from previous numbers.
The new instructions aim to ensure that the number of study permit applications processed by the Department of Citizenship and Immigration does not exceed this cap within one year.
Further steps are planned to limit temporary immigration.
On March 21, Miller announced that Ottawa would unveil the first temporary immigration levels plan in September. This plan aims to reduce the number of temporary residents to five percent of the total population over the next three years, down from 6.2 percent last year. This would reduce temporary immigration by about 20 percent, from 2.5 million temporary residents the previous year.
However, economists warn that such reductions could hinder Canada’s economic growth and exacerbate the challenges posed by an aging population. Temporary residents are a primary driver of population growth in Canada, and a significant drop in their numbers could stall economic progress.
Reduced population growth would simultaneously decrease both the demand for and the supply of workers, potentially creating a labor market imbalance.
As Ottawa moves forward with these changes, the impact on Canada’s economy and social fabric will be closely monitored.
The post Canada to Reduce Temporary Immigration in Response to Public Concerns appeared first on CI News | Latest Canada Immigration News.
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