Business groups are pushing back against recent immigration cuts
Canada's Immigration Minister Marc Miller is setting new boundaries on the country's reliance on temporary foreign labour and international students, sparking concerns among business circles.
These groups argue that the current Canadian workforce isn't large enough to keep certain economic sectors afloat. Miller has been at the forefront of this shift, slashing the number of foreign student visas by 35% for the year and hinting at upcoming restrictions on their work hours.
Miller didn't mince his words about Canada's dependency on these temporary workers.
"We've become addicted to temporary foreign workers," he said in an interview with Bloomberg News, pointing out the pressure this puts on industries to lower labour costs. This tightening of policies is happening against a backdrop of rising housing costs and a growing public dissatisfaction with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's administration.
Unlike its counterparts in the U.S. and Europe, Canada has managed to maintain more control over its immigration influx due to its geographic advantages. Yet the country is now facing challenges from the spike in temporary residents—students and workers alike—who are crucial for bridging the labour gap left by an aging population. This influx has then driven up housing costs.
Read next: Will cutting down immigration numbers help with housing affordability?
Miller's first move was to adjust student visa policies, including a cap on visas and new work permit restrictions for graduates and their spouses. His next target is a policy introduced in 2022 that allowed students to work up to 40 hours a week off-campus to help with labour shortages during the pandemic. Defending the necessity of this policy at that time, Miller suggests that the upcoming changes will likely set the work limit to somewhere between 20 and 40 hours a week.
He admits that this comes with economic trade-offs but remains critical of the inflationary pressures and exploitation risks associated with high immigration levels. In the meantime, he is currently reviewing the temporary foreign worker program alongside employment minister Randy Boissonnault.
"We're asking ourselves, is the short-term gain worth the long-term pain?" Miller said.
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