Speaking notes for the Honourable Marc Miller, Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship: Government of Canada reduces immigration

Immigration is essential for our country’s economy and accounts for almost 100% of Canada’s labour force growth. In response to the global pandemic and labour shortages, we brought in temporary measures to attract some of the world’s best and brightest to study and work in Canada, which supported the urgent needs of businesses.

Speech was delivered on October 24, 2024 in Ottawa, Ontario.

Bonjour tout le monde. Good morning. Thank you for being here today.

I’ll begin by acknowledging that we are gathering on the traditional and unceded territory of the Algonquin Anishinaabeg People.

I’d like to acknowledge the Prime Minister, and my colleagues for being here today.

Immigration is essential for our country’s economy and accounts for almost 100% of Canada’s labour force growth. In response to the global pandemic and labour shortages, we brought in temporary measures to attract some of the world’s best and brightest to study and work in Canada, which supported the urgent needs of businesses.

The plan worked by helping our economy navigate a challenging period and recover more quickly.

Since then, our economy and the world have changed. While we see signs of improvement, families and communities across the country continue to face challenges.

The pressures on housing and social services require a more sustainable approach to welcoming newcomers. It is also clear that Canadians want the federal government to better manage the immigration system.

For the first time, the Immigration Levels Plan includes targets for temporary residents, such as international students and temporary foreign workers, as well as for permanent residents. This more comprehensive approach to welcoming newcomers will help preserve the integrity of our immigration system, respond to the needs and challenges of communities, and set up newcomers for success by having adequate resources to support them.

Temporary Resident Programs

Over the last two years, 60% of all newcomers were temporary residents, including international students, temporary workers, and some arriving through humanitarian programs.

This fast growth resulted in Canadians and newcomers facing challenges and integrity issues that we have already begun to address.

Today’s plan fulfills the commitment I made earlier this year: to reduce volumes of temporary residents coming and staying in Canada.

This brings temporary resident planning in line with permanent resident programs, providing greater predictability and transparency to our immigration system.

For international students, we worked with partners to

• implement a cap on international students
• tighten controls on study permits, including the requirement for provincial attestation letters
• limit access to work permits for graduates – including private-public partnerships that were driving up program admissions

The changes have worked: in the first nine months of the year, we had fewer international students coming to Canada – down 43% compared to 2023. The result is that local communities face lower rental prices in parts of the country that saw large numbers of students in recent years, and international students are receiving better services and support. For example, in Vancouver, one- and two-bedroom apartment rental prices are down more than 10%, and Toronto over 8%.

With my colleague, Minister Boissonnault, the government ended temporary pandemic measures regarding the Temporary Foreign Worker Program by bringing in restrictions and controls to limit access for companies employing low-wage workers.

These changes will help our partners, including provinces, territories and municipalities, align their capacities and allow populations to grow at a more sustainable pace as we encourage institutions to do their part in better welcoming newcomers.

Our plan reaffirms the government’s commitment to reduce non‑permanent resident volumes to 5% of Canada’s population by the end of 2026.

With these reduction measures, Canada’s temporary population will decrease over the next few years as significantly more temporary residents will transition to permanent residents or leave Canada compared to new ones arriving. Specifically, compared to each previous year, we will see Canada’s temporary population decline by

• 445,901 in 2025
• 445,662 in 2026
• a modest increase of 17,439 in 2027

Our actions to-date and levels plan for 2025 will mean that the number of newcomers will decrease over the next few years because significantly more temporary residents will leave Canada compared to those new arrivals.

Permanent Resident Programs

It’s clear that our country still needs newcomers to help grow our economy, fill skills and labour gaps, and address challenges like building new homes and providing quality health care.

With our aging population and people living longer, we need more workers to support important social programs like health care, public pensions and infrastructure.

But we see the pressures facing our country and are adapting our policies so that Canadians and newcomers alike have access to the quality jobs, homes, and support they need to thrive.

We have listened to Canadians. That is why we are adjusting the plan and reducing our permanent resident targets. The plan focuses on attracting skilled workers, helping reunite families, and resettling refugees.

Canada will reduce its permanent immigration targets to align with our economic needs

• from 500,000 down to 395,000 in 2025;
• from 500,000 to 380,000 in 2026; and
• setting a target of 365,000 in 2027.

These lower permanent resident targets are expected to reduce the housing supply gap by about 670,000 units by the end of 2027.

We will prioritize permanent resident spots for temporary residents like international students or temporary workers who are already in Canada, by facilitating their transition.

This means over 40% of permanent residents will come from temporary residents that are already in Canada. These skilled, educated newcomers can continue to support the workforce and economy, without placing additional demands on our social services. Newcomers with experience in Canada show greater long-term success.

Adjustments will be made to our economic immigration streams to prioritize the transition of workers already here to permanent residence and to be responsive to labour market needs – our In‑Canada Focus. We will put emphasis on our federal economic priorities in programs including provincial nominee programs, the Canadian Experience Class, and regional immigration programs to attract the workers we need such as those in health care and trades occupations.

Canadians are proud of our country’s reputation as a leader in refugee resettlement. While our refugee resettlement targets are reduced as a result of overall reductions, our commitment to some of the world’s most vulnerable people remains.

We also understand the importance of reuniting families and loved ones, including spouses, children, parents, and grandparents. That’s why we are continuing to allocate almost 24% of our overall permanent resident admissions to family immigration in 2025.

And we continue to strengthen Francophone communities outside Quebec. We will target nearly 30,000 French-speaking newcomers in 2025, representing over 8.5% of total admissions, rising to 9.5% in 2026, and 10% of newcomers in 2027.

This means that despite the decrease in overall PR targets, the number of Francophone newcomers that we hope to settle outside Quebec will continue to increase year over year. This will help support our plan to restore the demographic weight of Francophone communities outside of Quebec.

Regularization

Regarding undocumented individuals in Canada, we have been clear that a broad program would not be pursued. However, we will set a small number of admissions for individuals that would be regularized through an initiative focused on those that worked in essential service industries.

Conclusion

I want Canadians to know we are listening. We’re aware of our country’s current challenges and are stepping up to address Canada’s evolving needs.

Our immigration plan will support our economy while responding to the pressures that families and communities are facing today.

Canada’s immigration plan for the next three years will pause our population growth in the short term to maintain well‑managed and sustainable growth for the long term.

Our changes over the last year are working. Today’s plan will build on our support for communities and employers while upholding our humanitarian commitments and Canadian values.

We will pause growth from immigration for two years. It will allow us to get back on pre-pandemic population growth trajectory by 2027 so that over the long term we can continue to grow our economic and social prosperity through immigration.

We are making immigration work and leveraging our existing programs so that everyone has access to the quality jobs, homes, and supports they need. We are supporting newcomers’ integration and giving them a fair shot in Canada.

Thank you.