Canada still an 'open country' despite immigration cuts, says minister
Recent polls have found Canadians' attitudes toward immigration have soured
Immigration Minister Marc Miller says Canada is still "an open country" after the Liberal government announced plans to cut the projected number of newcomers.
On Thursday, Miller and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced the government is slashing the projected number of new permanent residents from 485,000 to 395,000 in 2025, with further cuts to 380,000 in 2026 and 365,000 in 2027.
In an interview with CBC's The House, Miller said that people "still see a lot of hope in coming to Canada" but "not everyone can come here or can have the privilege of becoming a permanent resident and then a Canadian."
"Canada is an open country," Miller told host Catherine Cullen. "I think we've realized importantly that we have to have a managed migration system that makes sense for everyone, including newcomers that we need to set up for success."
Under the previous plan released last November, Canada was to admit about 500,000 people in both 2025 and 2026.
The new immigration levels plan will cause a 0.2 per cent population decline over the next two years, a government press release said. It added the plan will also "reduce the housing supply gap by approximately 670,000 units" over the next few years.
The immigration announcement drew the attention of former U.S. president Donald Trump, who has promised mass deportations if he's elected in November.
In a social media post, Trump wrote that "even Justin Trudeau wants to close Canada's borders."
"We are the only 'stupid ones' that allow people, including hundreds of thousands of criminals, to freely come into the United States through our ridiculous 'open borders' policy," Trump added.
Experts have told CBC News that a crackdown in one jurisdiction can have the effect of pushing migrants into another. In this case, a mass U.S. deportation could move migrants into Canada.
When asked for his thoughts on Trump's post, Miller said that "obviously, you never want to see these decisions weaponized because I think this is the right decision. And I'll leave presidential politics up to the Americans to decide."
Miller also said the federal government will "be able to work with really any government or any president that is in place in the next couple of weeks."
Canadians' opinions on immigration shifting
Miller said the new reductions reflect discussions with economists and "with Canadians that we hear at the door."
"They expect us to have a controlled, managed migration plan that is ambitious, reflects what we need to do but also reflects the stress that flow has had on Canadians, on affordability," Miller said.
Recent polls have shown that Canadians' attitudes toward immigration have soured. An Abacus survey released last week found that more than half of respondents held a negative view of the immigration system.
Miller told Cullen the federal government needs to "preserve" a public consensus on immigration "in order to serve not only Canadians, but newcomers that are coming here and making sure that they are set up for success."
"I think perhaps we've gotten lazy as a country in showing the benefits of [immigration]," Miller said. "But that consensus isn't unanimity and it's something that we all have an obligation to build in this country."
Alicia Backman-Beharry, an Alberta-based immigration lawyer, told The House the reduction is a "big about-face. It is a big change in the direction that the Liberal government had projected to go."
"I think it's also political in nature," she told host Catherine Cullen. "It was a plan I would have expected to see from the Conservative government."
Miller said that Canada's current immigration levels are "nowhere close" to the levels set by the government of former Conservative prime minister Stephen Harper.
The federal government's numbers show that 260,000 immigrants, 23,286 of them refugees, came to Canada in 2014, when Harper was in power.
Backman-Beharry also pointed out that family sponsorships are projected to go down. The government had planned to admit 84,000 spouses, partners and children in 2025 — that figure is now down to 70,000.
"It will have an effect on spousal sponsorship [and] family reunification" she said.
Backman-Beharry said her big takeaway from the revised targets is that "Canada is saying they are putting Canadians first in terms of who they want Canadian businesses to give jobs to. They want Canadians first for housing and social services.
"And that means immigrants who aren't able to meet the cuts in this highly competitive atmosphere are going to lose out."
Miller said that "there are some difficult choices we had to make, and the levels plan does reflect that difficult choice ... Canadians expect us to get that balance right, and I think this is one that is right."
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With files from Darren Major, The House