Immigration must be responsive to our country's needs. Setting goals and targets for immigration is a critical part of how we support a well-managed, sustainable immigration system built on community capacity, humanitarian responsibilities and economic objectives, while prioritizing the health, safety and security of Canadians.
In March 2024, Canada announced a plan to decrease the number of temporary residents from 6.5% of the total population to 5% over the next three years, including temporary foreign workers and international students. Achieving this target requires a whole-of-government approach, with Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC), Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC), the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) and our security partners working closely together across a wide range of programs.
The measures we have taken and continue to take will protect the integrity and sustainability of our migration pathways, reduce fraud and relieve pressures on the housing and health care sectors, while setting temporary residents up for success in Canada. They are also intended to help set newcomers up for success and support our country in meeting labour market needs.
What we've accomplished
Temporary foreign workers:
- ESDC and IRCC introduced new and stronger protections for temporary foreign workers through amendments to the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations in September 2022. This includes requirements for employers to provide temporary foreign workers with information about their rights before they arrive in Canada and to ensure this information is made available to them throughout their period of employment.
- As part of the Government of Canada's broader commitment to protecting temporary foreign workers from mistreatment and abuse, the Migrant Worker Support Program was launched in 2022 (totaling $49.5 million) to help migrant workers learn about and exercise their rights.
- We have improved the quality, timeliness and reach of employer inspections, resulting in a 36% increase in fines issued in 2023 to 2024 to non-compliant employers using the Temporary Foreign Worker Program. The Government of Canada also announced additional measures to address labour market impact assessment fraud.
- Budget 2024 proposed to provide $41 million over an additional two-year period, starting in 2024 to 2025, to ensure it continues to protect temporary foreign workers through this program.
- ESDC also improved the quality of employer inspections to hold employers accountable for the treatment of workers.
- We cancelled the visitor-to-worker public policy, which had been used by nefarious actors to mislead and mistreat foreign nationals.
- We are providing updated training to decision-making officers on risk assessment and fraud detection, and revising guidance with a focus on reducing risk tolerance.
International students:
- Based on consultations with the provinces, we set an intake cap on international student permit applications to stabilize new growth and ensure Canadian communities have the capacity to welcome them.
- We introduced a letter of acceptance verification system to protect students from fraud.
- We increased the financial requirements that applicants must meet to be approved for a study permit so students are better prepared for life in Canada.
- We limited the open work permit eligibility for spouses of students to only those situations in which the principal applicant is in a master's, doctoral or professional degree program, or part of the Francophone Minority Communities Student Pilot.
- We introduced reforms to the post-graduation work permit that removed eligibility for graduates of college programs delivered through public-private curriculum licensing arrangements.
- We proposed new regulations that would require international students to apply for a new study permit to change schools and that would hold learning institutions accountable for failing to participate in student compliance and letter of acceptance verification activities.
- The proposed regulations would also adjust the hours per week international students can work off-campus to help students focus primarily on their studies, while still having the option to work. At this time, the new rule is not yet in effect and we are continuing to work towards implementation later this fall.
Asylum claimants:
- In March 2023, Canada and the United States introduced an Additional Protocol to the Safe Third Country Agreement to extend its application to the entire land border, including internal waterways. This change has resulted in a significant drop in irregular crossings. The number of irregular asylum claims has dropped from an average of 165 per day in March 2023 to an average of 13 per day since then.
- In 2019, IRCC and the CBSA established the Integrated Claims Analysis Centre pilot project to streamline the review of files to make sure that Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada decision makers receive scheduling-ready packages, resulting in faster scheduling of hearings and fewer postponements.
New requirements for Mexican travellers:
- In February 2024, the Government of Canada introduced a partial visa requirement for Mexican citizens, who represented approximately 17 per cent of all asylum claims in 2023. This was done in response to a continued increase in asylum claims made by Mexican citizens, the majority of which were refused, withdrawn or abandoned. After introducing these changes, the number of overall claims made by Mexican citizens dropped by almost 80% from 1,997 claims in February to 434 claims in June 2024.
