Last Updated On 21 March 2024, 3:01 PM EDT (Toronto Time)
Today, the minister of Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada (IRCC), Marc Miller, provided an update on temporary resident levels in Canada announcing new reforms.
Randy Boissonnault, the employment minister, was present with him during a media availability to discuss the number of temporary residents.
The update was provided at the National Press Theatre in Ottawa at 1:00 p.m. EST (Toronto time).
The Immigration Minister announced that he has instructed the immigration department to conduct a review of IRCC programs that bring in temporary foreign workers and align them with labour market needs.
He further added that Canada will now set up annual targets for temporary residents for the first time in the fall of 2023, just as they are set for permanent residents on an annual basis.
The minister will be convening a meeting with provincial counterparts to set these annual targets for the number of temporary residents allowed to enter Canada.
Miller also announced that they will have more domestic immigration draws and urges the provincial counterparts to do the same to convert temporary residents to permanent residents.
Canada’s temporary resident population has grown rapidly, reaching up to 2.5 million (6.2% of the overall Canadian population in 2023).
As a starting point, IRCC will aim to reduce our temporary resident population to 5% over the next three years.
This number will be confirmed in the fall, following consultation with the provincial and territorial counterparts and as part of our annual level planning.
There have been multiple changes announced to the Canadian temporary foreign worker program (TFWP), including a reduction in new LMIA validity to 6 months from 12 months beginning May 1, 2024, except for employers participating in the recognized employer pilot program (REP).
All the employers identified in the 2022 workforce solution roadmap will have a reduction from 30% to 20% of their workforce coming through the temporary foreign worker program under the low wage stream of TFWP.
However, the healthcare and construction sectors are exempt from the above-mentioned new TFWP measure until August 31, 2024.
The new TFWP measures are also not applicable to employers in the agriculture sector.
Concerns over rising Temporary Resident levels in Canada
Statistics Canada unveiled the new data in September 2023, reporting a nearly 700,000 increase in temporary residents already in Canada on study permits, work permits, and asylum claimants.
Canada has set an annual target for all economic immigration programs of 266,210 for 2023, with a goal of exceeding 301,000 by 2025.
More than 1 million work permit holders in Canada are searching for permanent residency routes under Canada’s economic immigration programs.
However, the number of PR spots available through economic immigration is limited and is far lower than the number of TRs in Canada.
Furthermore, these temporary residents have to contend with worldwide talent for the same number of PR opportunities.
In layman’s terms, Canada already has enough temporary residents to meet its permanent residency targets for the next 6-7 years if it does not welcome anyone from outside Canada.
But Canadian immigration has become increasingly competitive, with a concentration on providing permanent status to persons with expertise in occupations with a labour shortage, Francophones, and those with a high level of education and 3–4 years of experience.
Province-Wise Temporary Residents
With about a million temporary residents, Ontario, the largest province, has the most of all the categories, followed by Quebec and British Columbia.
| Province | Total Temporary Residents | Asylum Claimants | Work Permit Holders | Study Permit Holders | Both Work and Study Permit Holders | Others (mainly refers to family members living with permit holders) |
| Ontario | 986,863 | 90,793 | 419,475 | 284,739 | 159,806 | 32,050 |
| Quebec | 470,976 | 146,723 | 200,522 | 63,799 | 38,858 | 21,074 |
| British Columbia | 400,964 | 11,384 | 196,259 | 138,434 | 38,848 | 16,039 |
| Alberta | 150,320 | 5,766 | 89,575 | 36,576 | 11,013 | 7,390 |
| Manitoba | 60,615 | 1,434 | 32,608 | 18,068 | 6,652 | 1,853 |
| Nova Scotia | 45,794 | 325 | 20,712 | 13,619 | 9,056 | 2,082 |
| Saskatchewan | 30,704 | 236 | 15,512 | 10,512 | 2,957 | 1,487 |
| New Brunswick | 27,458 | 188 | 13,864 | 7,476 | 4,626 | 1,304 |
| Newfoundland and Labrador | 12,911 | 73 | 6,063 | 5,017 | 1,186 | 572 |
| Prince Edward Island | 9,953 | 26 | 5,192 | 3,702 | 745 | 288 |
| Yukon | 1,446 | 0 | 1,120 | 217 | 80 | 29 |
| Northwest Territories | 567 | 7 | 490 | 38 | 20 | 12 |
| Nunavut | 108 | 3 | 87 | 4 | 3 | 11 |
Official IRCC Media Advisory
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