TORONTO – The government of Canada has announced to limit the number of temporary residents entering the country by introducing caps on them starting this fall.
Interestingly, the cap would be introduced for the first time as the country grapples with the challenge of housing crisis and inflation.
As far as the statistics are concerned, there are currently about 2.5 million temporary residents in Canada, which comprise about 6.2 per cent of the overall population.
The temporary residents include students, asylum seekers and temporary workers but Immigration Minister Marc Miller said he hopes to reduce this figure to about five per cent over the next three years.
The first cap would be set up in September this year as the immigration minister said the move is to ensure “sustainable” growth in the number of temporary residents coming into the country.
Canada has seen an increase in the number of temporary residents admitted to the country and statistics imply that the number of temporary residents was one million in 2021.
While noting that Canada relies heavily on temporary foreign workers to fill labour shortages, Mr Miller said “changes are needed to make the system more efficient”.
“To be clear, these are important global commitments to Canadians,” Mr Miller said and added that at the same time, there should be an honest conversation about what the rise of international migration means for Canada as we plan ahead.
Experts say that the fresh policy would impact businesses as they will have to reduce the number of temporary foreign workers they depend on by 1 May, and will have a shorter window to prove that these jobs could not be filled by a permanent resident or a Canadian citizen.
Two exceptions to the fresh announcement will be workers in the construction and healthcare sectors as both sectors are facing labour shortages in Canada. These workers will be allowed to enter the country at current levels until at least 31 August.
According to Statistics Canada, the majority of temporary residents – around 40% – in 2021 had a work permit while students represented 22% of temporary residents, and asylum seekers accounted for 18%.
It is to be mentioned that earlier this year, Canada also set a limit on the number of international students for the next two years, resulting in a planned decrease of 35% in approved study permits.
