Canada tightens its immigration policy: reduction of study and work permits
By balkis | September 24, 2024 at 8:34 p.m.
A shift towards a stricter immigration policy
Canada, once known for its openness to immigration, is gradually tightening its immigration policy under the government of Justin Trudeau.
After strengthening the conditions for obtaining temporary work permits, the Canadian government announced last Wednesday a significant reduction in the number of international study permits.
This decision is part of a desire to prioritize the employment of Canadian workers and respond to tensions in the job and housing markets.
Reduction of international study permits
Starting in 2025, Ottawa plans to issue 437,000 international study permits, compared to 485,000 in 2024 and more than 500,000 in 2023, marking a significant drop.
The government believes that high levels of temporary immigration are putting a heavy strain on infrastructure, including housing, social services and the labour market.
Quebec will be particularly affected by this decision, with a new measure requiring companies to reduce the number of low-wage foreign workers by half, limiting their proportion to 10% of the total workforce.
Tightening work permit requirements
At the same time, Canada is also tightening the conditions for accessing work permits for spouses of certain foreign students. As for foreign workers, temporary work permits will be reduced to one year instead of two years, a measure already applied in some Canadian cities since last August.
Immigration Minister Marc Miller has clarified that access to Canada is “a privilege, not a right,” clearly indicating the government’s desire to tighten immigration criteria.
Tightening controls on travel visas
The Canadian government also plans to tighten controls on travel visas to combat fraudulent asylum claims.
These tightening procedures are part of a broader strategy to limit the number of temporary residents in Canada, with the goal of reducing their proportion to 5% of the population.
A significant reduction in foreign workers
Labour Minister Randy Boissonnault highlighted the magnitude of these measures, describing the reduction in the number of foreign workers admitted to the country as “massive.” In fact, the government plans to reduce this number from 170,000 to 100,000, a decrease of 70,000 people.
This reduction policy marks a turning point in the management of immigration in Canada, a country long known for its welcoming of foreign workers and international students.
A Committed Strategy to Limit ImmigrationCanada, under the government of Justin Trudeau, is adopting a more restrictive approach to temporary immigration, whether for international students or foreign workers.
Faced with growing tensions in the job market and the housing sector, these measures aim to rebalance the situation, but they could also have significant repercussions on Canada’s attractiveness as a destination for foreign students and workers.
Un virage vers une politique migratoire plus stricte Le Canada, autrefois reconnu pour son ouverture à l’immigration, durcit progressivement sa politique
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