Canada’s federal government is shifting policy on immigration, tightening restrictions on new arrivals and introducing new rules for permanent and non-permanent residents.
The change comes after years of accelerating population growth, a trend Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says is driven by increased immigration to address labor shortages during Canada’s recovery from COVID-19. It is said that
“We could have acted sooner as a federal team, when the post-pandemic boom subsides and businesses no longer need additional workforce support,” Trudeau said in a video last November.
“We have levers to suppress it. That’s why we are what we are.”
Here’s what you need to know about the rule changes.
New Canadians take the oath of citizenship during a Canada Day citizenship ceremony at Assiniboine Park Pavilion on Monday, July 1, 2024 in Winnipeg, Massachusetts. THE CANADIAN PRESS/David Lipnowski
How many immigrants will Canada accept in 2025?
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) says Canada expects to see fewer new immigrants to the country this year for the first time since the COVID-19 lockdown, as part of a plan to “halt population growth in the short term.” It is said that there is. Released in October.
Touted as an effort to reduce pressure on housing and social services, the changes will:
The target for permanent residents (PR) has been lowered from 500,000 to 395,000. The PR goals for 2026 and 2027 are 380,000 and 365,000 people, respectively.
Additionally, Canada plans to reduce long-term growth in the non-permanent resident (NPR) population through policy measures aimed at:
Reduce the NPR share in Canada from 6.5 per cent of the population to 5 per cent. NPR’s total population will decline by about 445,000 this year, another 445,000 next year, and then increase by 17,439 in 2027.
This means that the admission of new permanent and non-permanent immigrants is expected to decline in the coming years.
A young New Canadian holds a flag during a citizenship ceremony on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Wednesday, April 17, 2019. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick
Will Canada grant PR status in 2025?
The federal government predicts that more than 40% of new entrants granted permanent resident status this year will already be living in Canada as NPRs, a shift that IRCC calls a “domestic focus.” It’s part of what we are.
According to IRCC, the majority of new PRs this year will be economic migrants, with a further 25% made up of family migrants, with the remainder set aside for refugees, protected persons and others.
Of those granted PR status next year, 8.5 per cent are expected to be French speakers living outside Quebec, and that proportion is expected to rise to one in 10 by 2027. The federal system has announced that it expects about 80 percent of immigrants admitted to the province next year to understand French.
This means that most of the new spokespeople will be workers, followed by families, and then refugees. More and more people will speak French in PR.
Temporary foreign workers from Guatemala plow a field in preparation for planting grain corn at Quinn Farm in Notre-Dame-de-l’Isle-Perrault, west of Montreal, Sunday, June 4, 2023. Canadian Press/Graham Hughes
What will change for temporary workers?
The majority of new NPRs this year are workers, with 285,750 people entering Canada under the International Mobility Program and an additional 82,000 people entering Canada under the Temporary Foreign Worker (TFW) program.
In recent years, the government has said it will tighten eligibility for these schemes, following concerns that employers are abusing the schemes to unfairly obtain cheap labor.
“We’ve seen too many big companies do this,” Trudeau said in a video address in November. “We’re making sure this system works for Canadians and newcomers, not the big box stores, chain restaurants, immigration consultants, and fake universities that take advantage of it.”
Here are some of the new rules:
Immigration Minister Mark Miller says these last two changes alone are expected to reduce the total number of post-graduate work permits by 175,000 over the next three years.
Meanwhile, Canada’s TFW program has been reduced in scope.
For low-wage jobs, employers can currently only hire 10% of their employees as staff through this program (with some exceptions). New low-wage TFW applications will only be accepted in areas with unemployment rates below 6% (with some exceptions). The employment period for low-wage TFWs ranges from two years to a maximum of one year. The minimum wage for high-wage workers was increased to the state or territory median wage plus 20 per cent. Previously, the minimum wage was equal to the median wage for your area.
The government also said it plans to continue cracking down on abuse of the TFW program, citing a 36% year-on-year increase in fines issued during the 2023-2024 financial year.
This means that work permit requirements are more stringent, especially for those eligible for the Temporary Foreign Worker Program.
International students Jamie Niemoga (left) and Ola Fawehinmi speak on the Conestoga College campus on Saturday, April 27, 2024 in Kitchener, Ontario. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nick Iwanyshyn
Is Canada still accepting international students?
From early 2024, international student visas will have acceptance caps on a federal and state/territory basis based on population distribution.
The cap was first introduced last January in response to what IRCC called “unsustainable growth” in Canada’s international student program.
Approximately 305,900 international students are expected to arrive in 2025, with the approval cap for study permits this year at 437,000, down from 485,000 in 2024. Subject to future revisions, the number of new arrivals is expected to be maintained until 2027.
In addition:
Students pursuing master’s and doctoral degrees will no longer be exempt from this cap and will be required to submit state or territory certification as part of their application. Approximately 12% of permit approvals are allocated to advanced degrees.
Full-time international students with permission can now work off campus for up to 24 hours per week. Eligible international students can work full-time when classes are closed, such as during summer or winter vacation.
Caps on working hours have fluctuated in recent years, from an unlimited number of hours during the recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic to a stricter limit of 20 hours until last November. I returned to
This means that the cap on international student permits has become stricter, and graduate students are no longer exempt. Approved full-time students can now work longer hours than before in off-campus jobs.
A man hugs his father and mother after finally leaving the war-torn Gaza Strip and landing safely at Toronto’s Pearson International Airport on Thursday, November 9, 2023. Canadian Press/Nathan Dennett
What about asylum seekers?
The admission target for refugees and guardians will similarly decrease, with 58,350 people expected to enter this year, 55,350 in 2026 and 54,350 in 2027.
In addition, IRCC suspended refugee sponsorship activities by private organizations because the number of applications consistently exceeded the number of available places. Canada will not accept new sponsorship applications from groups of five private sponsors or community organizations until the end of 2025.
As of February of last year, the federal government requires travelers arriving by air from Mexico to visit Canada unless they already hold a nonimmigrant visa from the United States or have held a Canadian visa within the past 10 years. Requires visa application. IRCC said the new, stricter rules come after a large number of asylum applications were rejected, abandoned or withdrawn in the country in recent years.
That means Canada will accept fewer refugees over the next three years than in previous years and will suspend some forms of new refugee assistance. If you are visiting from Mexico by air, you will need to apply for a visa unless you have had one in the past 10 years or obtained a visa from the United States.
What happens to visitors on short-term visas?
In November, IRCC announced that the 10-year multiple-entry visa will no longer be the standard document for visitors to Canada.
Previously, visas were issued on a regular basis that allowed visitors to travel back and forth to the country repeatedly over a 10-year period, but according to the latest information from the federal government, the duration and flexibility of these permits will now be determined by the visa. It has become. Police officers on a case by case basis.
Similarly, in response to what IRCC calls “bad actors” who are abusing the policy to defraud prospective foreign workers, visitors must now apply directly for work permits while already in the country. is no longer allowed.
The pandemic-era policy allowing permit applications under these circumstances was put in place in consideration of the difficulties of entering and exiting Canada under lockdown measures, and was scheduled to end in February of this year, but was canceled early last August. It was done.
For more information, please visit the Department’s visitor visa landing page.
This means that visas that allow multiple visits to Canada are issued on a discretionary basis and have different durations. Currently, visitors must leave Canada before applying for a work permit.
Construction of new homes is seen in Ottawa’s Barrhaven neighborhood on Friday, August 30, 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Patrick Doyle
How will this impact Canada?
IRCC estimates Canada’s population will decline by a slight 0.2 per cent both this year and next, and grow by 0.8 per cent in 2027.
IRCC says it expects Canada’s housing supply gap to shrink by 670,000 homes over the next three years as a result of recent and upcoming immigration cuts.
Michael Donnelly, an associate professor of political science at Toronto’s Munk School of Global Affairs, points out that immigration and housing supply are deeply intertwined in the realm of public opinion.
“Oftentimes we have really bad disputes over housing,” he said in an interview with CTVNews.ca in November. “After the pandemic, when home prices rose and immigration started to increase, it was no surprise that it became a major flashpoint.”
And while Donnelly points out that the relationship between housing and immigration is complex, Canadians do have some confidence in the federal Liberals’ ability to rein in immigration and buck long-term trends that were assumed to be stable. He said he was losing.
“It’s easy to maintain an image of control, but once you lose it, it’s very difficult to regain it,” he says.
“It will take time to convince the public that things are completely under control, and it will probably take an election to do so.”