Immigration Minister Marc Miller on Friday discussed a plan to limit the number of new temporary residents in Canada with provincial and territorial counterparts. The target is to reduce the proportion of temporary residents from 6.2% of the country’s population in 2023 to 5% over the next three years.
Their solution: transition temporary visa holders into permanent residents.
While Miller acknowledged the potential benefits of this approach, calling it “smart,” he emphasized that not everyone who wants to stay in Canada will be able to do so.
“The fact people are already here, their impact on affordability has already been baked in, so it’s smart,” he said. “But it doesn’t mean by extension that everyone’s entitled to stay here or be here in Canada.”
The government has already announced plans to scale back the number of international students by implementing a two-year cap on new admissions. Measures to expedite asylum claim processing and deportation of denied claims were also included in the recent federal budget.
The largest category yet to be addressed is temporary work permit holders, which has grown significantly in recent years, from 337,460 in 2018 to 605,851 in 2022.
Labor economist Mikal Skuterud told CBC News that this increase can be attributed to changes in permanent residency criteria designed to fill specific labor gaps, creating an incentive for lower-skilled workers to come to Canada in hopes of obtaining permanent residency.
Transitioning temporary residents into permanent is expected to come with complications, such as worker shortages and potential impacts on housing costs and availability. The labor needs of each province will be a significant factor in the discussions, while the new targets for temporary visas are scheduled to be published in the fall.
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