Canada has announced it will slash immigration for the first time in years, a major policy shift for the Liberal government as it tries to reverse its unpopularity and remain in power.
From 2025 to 2027, Canada will bring in a total of 1.1 million new permanent residents, a 21 percent drop from previous years, the government announced on Thursday.
The number of temporary residents, meanwhile, will also decrease by about 30,000 to 300,000 in 2025, Immigration Minister Marc Miller said.
The government said the plan “will pause population growth in the short term to achieve well-managed, sustainable growth in the long term”.
The new immigration targets represent a break from the COVID-19 pandemic era when the government eased restrictions on temporary residents to fill labour shortages.
Canada announces reduction in immigration target from 500,000 to 395,000 in 2025
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— Immigration News Canada
Last year, Canada had planned to bring in 500,000 new permanent residents in 2025 and the same amount in 2026. As of the second quarter of 2024, there were 2.8 million temporary residents, including workers and students, in Canada, according to Statistics Canada.
The government statement suggested the country’s post-pandemic needs had evolved after immigrants had met business demands to aid the economic recovery and as they were blamed by the right-wing for putting pressure on housing, infrastructure and social services.
“Today’s announcement is the next step in our plan to address the evolving immigration needs of our country,” Miller said. “While it’s clear our economy needs newcomers, we see the pressures facing our country, and we must adapt our policies accordingly.”
“We didn’t get the balance quite right,” Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said of the change in policy.
The new plan will bring in 395,000 new permanent residents in 2025, 380,000 in 2026 and 365,000 in 2027, down from 485,000 in 2024.
Trudeau has lately faced pressure to step down amid slumping poll numbers and the rise in support for the opposition Conservatives.
Canada has long prided itself on welcoming newcomers, but in recent years, the national debate around immigration has shifted in part due to rising housing prices, the Reuters news agency reported.
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