Immigration has become a serious matter of concern for Canadians, with even the immigrant community now calling upon Canada to temporarily halt it.

This question was raised in a recent interview with Pierre Poilievre, the leader of the opposition, with Red FM Canada.

There is no doubt that immigration levels have been raised significantly during the tenure of the Liberal government, from 271,000 in 2015 to 500,000 in 2025.

Apart from this, unmonitored temporary residents in Canada increased to 2.8 million in the first quarter of 2024.

Temporary residents, which include international students, persons with work permits, and asylum seekers, now account for more than 6.8% of the entire population, up from 3.5% two years ago.

Also, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has now acknowledged that the number of temporary residents is beyond what the country can absorb and they need to get those numbers down.

PM said in April 2024 that temporary residents’ population growth is “far beyond what Canada has been able to absorb. We want to get those numbers down.”

And now Immigration Minister Marc Miller, in an interview with Bloomberg, said about international students that permanent residency should never be the promise.

He added that “people should be coming here to educate themselves and perhaps go home and bring those skills back to their country.”

For the first time ever, the Immigration Minister will announce its annual immigration levels plan for temporary residents in November 2024, along with its usual permanent resident levels.

What went wrong?

Immigration has always been important for Canada’s growth, but the Canadian government relies on retrospective data to make decisions.

For example, the immigration department is prioritizing professionals inside and outside Canada with experience in skilled trade, citing that their is a labour shortage and more tradespeople are needed to build infrastructure.

However, the latest Statistics Canada employment data shows a significant drop in job vacancies, especially in trade.

Another major part is not taking timely decisions, even if a problem in the system is detected.

The federal government now knows that there has been an increase in the temporary resident population in Canada and has announced limiting the number of international students at the beginning of 2024.

The immigration minister also announced that they will be announcing temporary residents’ annual targets or levels in November. Why wait for November?

Taking timely proactive action should be the best approach, using the latest updated data rather than waiting for the problem to grow and then reducing it.

Can Canada halt immigration temporarily?

Some future immigrants or temporary residents in Canada looking for permanent residency might see this negatively, but it is even to their benefit.

International students are paying exorbitant fees and costs to study in Canada, but now even they are finding that there are not enough economic opportunities for them or ways of transitioning to permanent residency.

The best thing for Canada is that a large pool of talented people is now available to select from.

However, temporary and permanent residents coming in and finding no economic opportunities is of no use; rather, admitting limited numbers will be better for them as well as Canadians.

As Pierre said, halting it completely is not a solution, and Canada cannot simply afford to pause immigration, but reducing it can help alleviate the pressure.

We are expecting that the Canadian government will reduce immigration targets in November in light of the upcoming elections in 2025, since immigration is a major influential factor for Canadians to decide which party to vote for.

This is the reason that we are now seeing an increase in statements to reduce immigration from the current immigration minister and prime minister, as well as the leader of the opposition.

Controlled immigration based on recent economic ground-level data will even benefit the new temporary and permanent residents coming to Canada.

It will offer them reasonable opportunities to settle in, rather than leaving them surprised and some even regretting their decision to move to Canada.

Gagandeep Kaur Sekhon

Gagandeep Kaur Sekhon moved to Canada in 2010 on a study visa. She navigated through the ups and downs of her student life and gained her permanent residency in 2015. Today, she is a proud Canadian citizen residing in Calgary, Alberta. She is mother of 2 beautiful daughters and making her difference through writing and guidance at INC – Immigration News Canada.