TORONTO: Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau acknowledged Tuesday that the surge in temporary immigration to Canada is “more” than it can “absorb,” and said his government wants to reduce that number.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau speaks on a day of housing announcements ahead of the 2024 federal budget at the Sunset Community Center in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, on March 27. (Reuters) {{^userSubscribed}} {{/userSubscribed}} {{^userSubscribed}} {{/userSubscribed}}
“Over the past few years, we've seen a significant increase in temporary immigration, whether it's temporary foreign workers or especially international students,” Trudeau said in response to a question at an unrelated event in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia. “We're seeing it. The number is particularly increasing.” At a rate far greater than Canada can absorb. ”
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He said that in 2017, temporary migrants accounted for just two people in the total population, but this has now risen to 7.5%.
“This is something we need to get back under control,” he said, adding that the government wanted to “reduce these numbers” and that they were “causing huge pressure on our communities.” “There is,” he added.
The surge in immigration is causing a housing affordability crisis in Canada, while also impacting services and infrastructure, contributing to the plummeting political fortunes of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and the ruling Liberal Party.
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When Prime Minister Trudeau first took office in 2015, there were a total of 219,035 international students, of whom 31,920 were Indians with study permits. Both these numbers have since skyrocketed, with 684,385 study permits issued in 2023, including 278,860 Indians. Similarly, there were only 1,955 temporary foreign workers in 2015, including 155 from India, according to data from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC). In 2023, their numbers jumped to 167,65 and 24,330, respectively.
Under pressure, the government is trying to keep the numbers down. On March 21, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Minister Mark Miller announced the government's goal to “reduce the temporary migrant population to 5% over the next three years”.
In January, IRCC announced that it would cap the number of international students' study permit applications accepted, which is expected to reduce the number of applications this year by 35% compared to 2023. “This cap will result in around 360,000 approved research permits, an expected decline of 35% from 2023,” he IRCC said in a release at the time.
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News / World News / Surge in temporary immigrants exceeds Canada's 'absorption' capacity: Prime Minister Trudeau
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