Canada to Accept Fewer Temporary Residents
The Canadian government will decrease the number of temporary residents allowed into the country. Minister of Immigration Marc Miller declared during an Ottawa press conference.
As is the case with new arrivals who become permanent residents, Miller announced that the government would for the first time set targets for the proportion of temporary residents to the overall Canadian population.
“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,” he said. Miller said that for instance, “we will have close to 300,000 arrivals of Ukrainians in Canada by the end of the month.”
“These are important global commitments,” said the immigration minister, who added that there needs to be “an honest conversation about what the rise in international migration means for Canada as we plan ahead.”
In 2023, 2.5 million people, or 6.2% of Canada’s total population, were considered temporary residents, according to Miller. He added that three years from now, the Canadian government wants that share to decrease to five percent.
The minister said that he would convene 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 set a target for 500,000 permanent residents in 2025.
In January, Miller announced that Canada would put a cap on the number of international students, who represent 42 percent of temporary residents in the country. However, 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 labour 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. #Canada to Accept Fewer Temporary Residents Investors Lose N248bn as Bears ‘Raid’ Nigerian Bourse
