03/21/2024
Today, Canada’s Minister of Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship, Marc Miller, provided an update on the levels of temporary residents in Canada, announcing new reforms. Randy Boissonnault, the Minister of Employment, was present with him during the announcement.
Currently, there are over 2.5 million temporary residents living in the country, accounting for 6.2% of the population. The government aims to reduce the population of temporary residents to 5%, or about 2 million, “to achieve an appropriate volume of temporary residents that Canada can accommodate,” said Miller.
The plan is to reduce the number of temporary residents by approximately 20% over the next three years.
Miller also announced that they will have more draws for domestic immigration, meaning for those already in the country to become permanent residents.
With the measure, Canada will reduce 5% of temporary residents annually with the aim of turning them into permanent residents.
Additionally, changes to Canada’s Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP) were announced, including a reduction in the validity of the Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA) to 6 months starting from May 1, 2024, with certain exceptions.
All employers identified in the 2022 workforce solutions plan will have a reduction from 30% to 20% of their workforce coming from the low-wage stream of the TFWP.
However, the healthcare and construction sectors are exempt from the aforementioned TFWP measures.
Previously, Canada only set goals for permanent residents, targeting around half a million annually.
Earlier this year, visas for international students were reduced by 35%, and the government aims to stabilize permanent residency at half a million annually.
