Canada Cuts Immigration Target By 21% After Record Growth

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government is reducing inflows of newcomers for the first time in more than a decade, ushering in a new era for a country that once embraced high levels of immigration.

Canada is expected to axe its annual permanent-resident target to about 395,000 for next year, down 21% from the earlier goal of half a million set last year, according to a government official who asked not to be identified to discuss matters not yet public.

The annual target will also be further decreased to roughly 380,000 for 2026 and 365,000 in 2027. The news was first reported by the National Post on Wednesday, and Immigration Minister Marc Miller will propose final numbers to Parliament on Thursday morning.

Permanent residents are a key part of Canada’s immigration system that focuses on bringing in young and highly educated workers to replenish its rapidly aging workforce. A large reduction to pre-pandemic levels signals the government is scaling back on its immigration ambition.

A large wave of immigrants that started arriving after travel restrictions eased in 2022 led to record population increases. The surge – comparable to adding all of San Diego’s residents to a country that’s slightly more populous than California in a single year – worsened housing shortages, inflated rent prices, strained public services and pushed up the unemployment rate. 

These pressures threatened a long-held belief that mass immigration gives Canada an edge in a global race to attract young workers to stave off economic decline. The country’s longest-running survey on immigration last week showed Canadians haven’t felt this strongly opposed to immigration levels in a quarter-century. 

Yet permanent residents haven’t made up the largest group of immigrants in recent years. Massive influxes were instead driven by newcomers who come to study and work under temporary visas but with the goal of seeking permanent residency. 

These so-called temporary residents became a source of growing criticism against Trudeau’s government for losing control of immigration. Trudeau and Miller will announce the first-ever annual target for temporary migrants on Thursday. 

Trudeau’s government has already set a goal of drastically shrinking the temporary resident population over the next three years, including by putting a limit on international student intakes and restricting use of foreign labor.