Canada on Thursday (Oct 24) said that it was significantly curbing immigration targets to “pause population growth”.
Marc Miller, minister of immigration, refugees and citizenship, announced the 2025–2027 Immigration Levels Plan, which will pause population growth in the short term to achieve well-managed, sustainable growth in the long term.
The announcement comes after the Canadian population surged to 41 million, which has majorly increased by an unprecedented wave of new arrivals.
Earlier, the immigration ministry had planned to let 500,000 new permanent residents settle in the country in 2025 and 2026.
However, the new targets were revised down to 395,000 next year and 380,000 for 2026. It set the 2027 target at 365,000.
“While it’s clear our economy needs newcomers, we see the pressures facing our country, and we must adapt our policies accordingly,” Miller said in a statement.
The ministry added that the plan further aims to ease pressure on housing, with Canadians consistently ranking the cost of renting or owning a home as a top concern.
The 2025–2027 Immigration Levels Plan is expected to result in a marginal population decline of 0.2 per cent in both 2025 and 2026 before returning to a population growth of 0.8 per cent in 2027.
A survey last month from the Environics Institute on public attitudes toward immigration found that “for the first time in a quarter century, a clear majority of Canadians say there is too much immigration.”
(With inputs from agencies)