For the first time, Canada will put a “soft cap” on the number of new temporary resident arrivals to the country when it sets immigration levels in the fall, Immigration Minister Marc Miller announced Thursday.
The announcement is the latest in a series of steps Miller has taken in recent months to rein in rampant population growth.
The federal government plans to decrease the number of temporary residents to five per cent of the population over the next three years, down from the current 6.2 per cent.
The first targets will be set in September.
Canada has seen a sharp increase in the number of temporary residents coming in each year, with Miller saying in the past that the country has become “addicted” to temporary workers.
“Changes are needed to make the system more efficient and more sustainable,” Miller told a news conference.
“There should be an honest conversation about what the rise in international migration means for Canada as we plan ahead,” he added.
Strong population growth in Canada has led to intense scrutiny of the country’s immigration policies and particularly of temporary resident streams.
Canada’s population grew by more than 430,000 during the third quarter of 2023, marking the fastest pace of population growth in any quarter since 1957. Nearly three-quarters of that growth was driven by non-permanent residents.
The number of temporary residents in Canada spiked due to higher international student enrolments at post-secondary institutions as well increased use of temporary worker programs.
The federal government loosened temporary foreign worker rules during the pandemic to help businesses fill positions amid record-high job vacancies.
Canada has also brought in significant numbers of migrants in response to humanitarian crises, including nearly 300,000 Ukrainians fleeing the Russian invasion.
Economists have raised concerns about the increase in migrant workers in recent years, warning that the federal programs discourage employers from innovating by offering up cheap labour.
Miller already slashed the number of new international student visas by more than one-third earlier this year.
He also instituted a temporary cap to address housing pressures and problems in the student visa system that have allowed some bad actors to take advantage of high international student tuition while providing a poor education.
Miller said he’ll convene a meeting of provincial, territorial and federal ministers in May to talk about how the levels should be set.
“Provinces and territories know their unique labour needs and capacity and need to assume responsibility for the people that they bring in as well.”
Miller has also asked his department to review existing programs that bring in temporary workers so as to better align them with labour needs and weed out abuse in the system.
The government is also moving to reduce the number of workers entering Canada in certain sectors as of May 1.
Employment Minister Randy Boissonnault said businesses that are currently allowed to have up to 30 per cent of their workforce come through the temporary foreign worker program will have that proportion drop to 20 per cent.
The health care and construction sectors will be exempted from the change.
The government is also requiring employers to consider asylum seekers with valid work permits for open jobs before they can apply for temporary foreign workers, Boissonnault said.
The Migrant Workers Alliance for Change said temporary migrants have been scapegoated for the affordability and housing crisis to distract from corporate and government failure at ensuring a decent quality of life.
“We call on the federal government to stop responding to racism by playing with caps and numbers and instead build a fair society with equal rights for all,” the group said in a statement Thursday.
The group also repeated a long-standing call to offer permanent status to undocumented residents, migrant workers, international students and refugees.
The announcement signals a shift in the federal government’s policy on temporary foreign worker programs, said Mikal Skuterud, an economics professor at the University of Waterloo.
“My sense is that’s what this press conference was to send a message to people … that ‘we’re changing our tune a little bit on this. We’re shifting in a different direction now the emphasis about not growing this program but reducing the size of it,'” Skuterud said.
The academic, who specializes in immigration policy, has long called for reforms to the temporary foreign worker programs.
He said one way the federal government can rein things in is by raising the price a business has to pay to apply for a labour market impact assessment.
The federal government currently charges employers $1,000 per requested position
“If you want to reduce the demand for these temporary foreign workers, that price needs to increase,” he said.
Last fall, Miller announced he would level out the number of new permanent residents to Canada in 2026 in reaction to a crunch on housing and other services.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 21, 2024.
This is a corrected story. An earlier version said the government plans to decrease the temporary resident population by five per cent over the next three years.
EDMONTON – RCMP say a second suspect has been arrested in the killing of an Alberta county worker.
Mounties say 28-year-old Elijah Strawberry was taken into custody Friday at a house on O’Chiese First Nation.
Colin Hough, a worker with Rocky View County, was shot and killed while on the job on a rural road east of Calgary on Aug. 6.
Another man who worked for Fortis Alberta was shot and wounded, and RCMP said the suspects fled in a Rocky View County work truck.
Police later arrested Arthur Wayne Penner, 35, and charged him with first-degree murder and attempted murder, and a warrant was issued for Strawberry’s arrest.
RCMP also said there was a $10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of Strawberry, describing him as armed and dangerous.
Chief Supt. Roberta McKale, told a news conference in Edmonton that officers had received tips and information over the last few weeks.
“I don’t know of many members that when were stopped, fuelling up our vehicles, we weren’t keeping an eye out, looking for him,” she said.
But officers had been investigating other cases when they found Strawberry.
“Our investigators were in O’Chiese First Nation at a residence on another matter and the major crimes unit was there working another file and ended up locating him hiding in the residence,” McKale said.
While an investigation is still underway, RCMP say they’re confident both suspects in the case are in police custody.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
RICHMOND, B.C. – The Integrated Homicide Investigation Team says the 26-year-old son of a man found dead on British Columbia’s Sunshine Coast has been charged with his murder.
Police say 58-year-old Henry Doyle was found badly injured on a forest service road in Egmont last September and died of his injuries.
The homicide team took over when the BC Coroners Service said the man’s death was suspicious.
It says in a statement that the BC Prosecution Service has approved one count of first-degree murder against the man’s son, Jackson Doyle.
Police say the accused will remain in custody until at least his next court appearance.
The homicide team says investigators remained committed to solving the case with the help of the community of Egmont, the RCMP on the Sunshine Coast and in Richmond, and the Vancouver Police Department.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
VANCOUVER – Mediated talks between the union representing HandyDART workers in Metro Vancouver and its employer, Transdev, have broken off without an agreement following 15 hours of talks.
Joe McCann, president of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1724, says they stayed at the bargaining table with help from a mediator until 2 a.m. Friday and made “some progress.”
However, he says the union negotiators didn’t get an offer that they could recommend to the membership.
McCann says that in some ways they are close to an agreement, but in other areas they are “miles apart.”
About 600 employees of the door-to-door transit service for people who can’t navigate the conventional transit system have been on strike since last week, pausing service for all but essential medical trips.
McCann asks HandyDART users to be “patient,” since they are trying to get not only a fair contract for workers but also a better service for customers.
He says it’s unclear when the talks will resume, but he hopes next week at the latest.
The employer, Transdev, didn’t reply to an interview request before publication.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
