For the first time ever in Canada’s history, the country is planning to reduce its temporary residents by setting a cap on temporary immigration Immigration, as per an statement given by Minister Marc Miller on Thursday.
Plan To Reduce The Temporary Residents
This appears to be the latest government effort to address a housing shortage and also causing the stretching of essential services.
The North American country has seen a sharp rise in international students, foreign workers and other temporary residents in recent years.
All these people come to the country on time-limited visas as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government relied on immigration to drive economic growth and plug labor gaps.
However, the Liberal government seems to have come under political pressure for its immigration policies.
The critics mostly argue that they have exacerbated a housing crunch.
The effects can be witnessed as some services provided by the provinces, such as education and healthcare, are also struggling to keep up with population growth.
Further, Miller said that the government wants to reduce temporary residents to 5% of the total population over the next three years from 6.5% in 2023.
The figure is quite big as it would be a cut of about 20% from Canada’s 2.5 million temporary residents in 2023.
Why Would This Happen?
In order to finalize this plan, Miller plans to convene a meeting with his provincial and territorial counterparts in May.
Addint, “We need to ensure the number of temporary residents entering the country is at a sustainable level.”
While referring to the federal government’s immigration targets, Miller stated, “Starting this fall for the first time, we will expand the immigration levels plan to include both temporary resident arrivals and permanent resident arrivals.”
The Trudeau government would stop ramping up immigration for permanent residents from 2026 onwards, it said in November last year.
Following the development, Canada announced a two-year cap on the intake of foreign students in January.
Then, it said that it would stop giving work permits to some students after graduation as it seeks to rein in record numbers of newcomers.
