Justin Trudeau: Immigration of temporary residents should be controlled

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced the government wants to reduce the number of temporary resident immigrants coming to Canada, saying the situation must be "brought under control."

"Whether it's foreign workers with temporary residency or international students, there are far more people immigrating to Canada than Canada has been able to absorb," Trudeau said Tuesday. For example, in 2017, two percent of Canada's population was made up of temporary residents. Now 7.5% of our population is made up of these people. So we have to control it."

Immigration Minister Mark Miller said on March 21 that Ottawa will set targets for Canadian permanent residents to prevent a steady increase in the number of people entering the country. Our goal is to reduce the number of temporary residents to five percent of Canada's population over the next three years, he said.

For permanent residents, Canada has targeted 485,000 new immigrants, which will increase to 500,000 in 2025 and 2026.

In January, Miller announced Canada's student visa cap of 360,000 permits, a 35 percent decrease from 2023.

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