Canadian immigration Minister Marc Miller alongside Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced a major cut in immigrants that will be accepted into the country, with an intent to pause population growth. According to Statistics Canada, 97.6 percent of the expanding population came from both temporary and permanent migration in 2023. The government shared that these changes will reduce the number of lifelong residents in 2025 from its original target of 500,000 to 395,000, resulting in a decrease of 21 percent. In a statement to the media, Trudeau labeled the country’s immigration system as “responsible” and “flexible,” however they have altered these policies due to the “tumultuous times as [they] emerged from the pandemic.” The announcement comes during troubling times for the Liberal government amid rising support for the opposition Conservative Party. Around 1.3 million non-permanent residents would be required to leave Canada or get residency by 2025. Despite these new policies, Alberta’s premier Danielle Smith continues to criticize the federal government and has asked for further limitations, as these new policies are only expected to reduce the population by 0.2 percent. Immigrant advocates have not welcomed the change and have called it a “direct assault on migrants,” says Syed Hussan, the spokesperson for the Migrant Rights Network. The organization added that these economic problems result from “decades of federal and provincial policies that have underfunded and privatized public service.”
Immigration has played a critical role for businesses by providing companies with workers and helping to prevent a recession, however, according to the Royal Bank of Canada, the reduction of immigration will align housing demand with supply. This will reduce the pressure many Canadians face when buying a home if homebuilding rates can be sustained at the current level. Canadians held positive views on immigration however that has changed in recent years as housing prices have skyrocketed 30 percent since April 2020. Tony Stillo, a director at Oxford Economics shared in a conference that “You won’t get back to an affordable range for housing on a sustained basis for a decade.” In a survey conducted by the Environics Institute, 44 percent of Canadians thought that there was too much immigration, which increased from the 27 percent the previous year, however, Canadians tend to view these policies more positively than their allied counterparts, the United States. This is due to the government’s goal to foster a multicultural society. According to the Council of Foreign Affairs, in 2022 the majority of immigrants arrived from India, followed by China and Afghanistan, and settled around developed areas such as Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver.
Amid an economic crisis, the Canadian government will be implementing new policies regarding immigration. Following this announcement, the public responded with mixed opinions; some stated that they were looking forward to this new change and some requested more effort from the government, however, many citizens viewed this as a step towards a better future for Canada.
Written by Suriya Rampersad
