Canada has announced a plan to “pause population growth” following an immigration-fueled increase, signifying a major change in approach to migration from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s liberal government.
“We’re going to significantly reduce the number of immigrants coming to Canada for the next two years,” Mr Trudeau said yesterday of the announcement, adding, “This is temporary – to pause our population growth and let our economy catch up”.
“We have to get the system working right for all Canadians.”
https://twitter.com/JustinTrudeau/status/1849217594710011992The changes contained in the 2025–2027 Immigration Levels Plan come in response to growing public concern over the impact immigration is having on the country’s housing market, as well as on infrastructure and services.
“In response to the evolving needs of our country, this transitional levels plan alleviates pressures on housing, infrastructure and social services so that over the long term we can grow our economic and social prosperity through immigration,” the statement accompanying the announcement reads.
“Reducing the volume of immigrants will help to alleviate some pressure in the housing market, with the housing supply gap expected to decrease by approximately 670,000 units by the end of 2027,” it added.
The Canadian government announced that it is reducing its permanent residency target from 500,000 to 395,000 in 2025 – a 21 percent decline.
This is coupled with permanent residency targets of 380,000 in 2026 and 365,000 in 2027, both down from 500,000, with an expected result of a “marginal population decline” of 0.2 percent in both 2025 and 2026, before returning to a population growth of 0.8 percent in 2027.
The plan is also intended to see the number of temporary residents in Canada fall to 5 percent of the overall population by the end of 2026, coming as it does following previous announcements that targets have been lowered for both international students and temporary foreign workers.
Canada’s population has grown rapidly in recent years, with immigration accounting for almost 98 percent of the growth in 2023, according to government data.
Mr Trudeau said that his government “didn’t get the balance quite right” when it oversaw an increase in immigration following the Covid pandemic to make up for labour shortages.
Immigration Minister Marc Miller said that the plan is the “next step in our plan to address the evolving immigration needs of our country”.
“While it’s clear our economy needs newcomers, we see the pressures facing our country, and we must adapt our policies accordingly. These changes will make immigration work for our country so that everyone has access to the quality jobs, homes and supports they need to thrive. We have listened to Canadians, and we will continue to protect the integrity of our system and grow our population responsibly,” he said.
A poll earlier this month by the Environics Institute indicated that almost 60 percent of Canadians currently feel that immigration levels are too high.
“This is the most rapid change over a two-year period since Focus Canada began asking this question in 1977, and reflects the largest proportion of Canadians who say there is too much immigration since 1998,” the Institute said.
“The latest findings suggest the balance of public opinion about the volume of immigration currently being admitted into the country has effectively flipped from being acceptable (if not valuable) to problematic.”