Canada plans to reduce temporary residences by 20% in three years

Canadaa country that relies heavily on immigration as an economic driver, is scaling back its ambitions with a planned reduction in temporary residents after the influx exacerbated the housing shortage.

The country will set a target for temporary resident arrivals for the first time this year, with the intention of reducing the number by about 20% over the next three years, Immigration Minister Marc Miller said at a briefing on Thursday. in Ottawa, along with the Minister of Employment, Randy Boissonnault.

Currently, there are more than 2.5 million temporary residents in the country, 6.2% of the population. The Government intends to reduce the population of temporary residents to 5%, that is, about 2 million, “to achieve an adequate volume of temporary residents that Canada can receive”Miller said.

The new annual target will control the number of temporary migrants – including foreign workers, international students and asylum seekers – which has been growing rapidly in recent quarters. Previously, the Canadian government only set annual targets for permanent residents, with the goal of attracting about half a million of them annually.

“This will help strengthen alignment between immigration planning, community capacity, and labor market needs. It will also support predictable population growth”Miller said.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government has made immigration a key pillar of economic policies to prevent population aging and falling birth rates.

As a result, Canada’s population has been growing at a record pace and is now among the fastest in the world with an annual rate of 3.2%. In June, its population surpassed 40 million, and is now approaching 41 million just nine months later.

While recent inflows helped the economy avoid a recession amid high interest rates and rising labor supply, the rapid increases added pressure on infrastructure and services, worsened the housing shortage and sent home prices soaring. rentals.

Growing frustration over the cost of living and growing criticism of Trudeau’s immigration policies forced the government to try to stem the arrival of new arrivals.

Earlier this year, the Immigration Minister cut the number of international student permits this year by 35% compared to 2023 levels.

In November, he said the Government would stabilize the number of permanent residents at a record half a million a year, marking the first time in a decade that the Government has not increased its annual targets.

Last month, Miller said in an interview with Bloomberg News that Canada had become “addicted to temporary foreign workers” and that the Government is taking measures to stop that dependency. Canada’s challenge now will be to balance economic needs with preserving the country’s relatively orderly immigration system, which has seen a loss of public support in recent months.