Canada to accept fewer temporary residents

The Canadian government plans to reduce the number of temporary residents allowed into the country.

Marc Miller, an Immigration Minister, said this at a news conference in Ottawa.

He stated that the government for the first time would set targets for the percentage the temporary residents represent in the total Canadian population as is done for permanent resident arrivals.

He said, “Canada has had a sharp increase in the volume of temporary residents in recent years.

“From the arrival of international students, to foreign workers filling job vacancies, to those fleeing wars and natural disasters.”

The Minister said that for example, “we will have close to 300,000 arrivals of Ukrainians in Canada by the end of the month.”

“These are important global commitments,” Miller said, adding that there needs to be “an honest conversation about what the rise in international migration means for Canada as we plan ahead.”

He said in 2023, temporary residents comprised 6.2 percent of Canada’s population, or 2.5 million people.

Miller further said three years from now, the Canadian government wants that share to reduce to five per cent.

He stated that he would call for a meeting with his counterparts in Canada’s 10 provinces and three territories to discuss the reduced targets for temporary residents.

In November 2024, the Canadian government targeted 500,000 permanent residents in 2025.

In January, the Minister noted that Canada would put a cap on the number of international students, who represent 42 per cent of temporary residents in the country.

Notwithstanding, employers in the construction and healthcare sectors will be allowed to hire temporary foreign workers until at least Aug. 31.

“These are areas that have critical labor shortages and with the ambition that our government has for building 2.5 million homes over the next 10 years, we need to have every single worker we can in the construction sector.

“We want to also make sure that our healthcare sector has the workers it needs,” said Boissonnault. (Xinhua/NAN)