Speaking notes for the Honourable Marc Miller, Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship: Strengthening Canada’s Temporary Resident Programs and Migration Pathways

Earlier this year, I gave Canadians an update on the status of Canada’s immigration system and our ongoing work to make it more efficient and sustainable.

Speech was delivered on September 18, 2024 in Ottawa, Ontario.

Hello. Thank you all for being here today.

Thank you, Minister Boissonnault.

I want to start by acknowledging that we are gathered on the traditional and unceded territory of the Algonquin Anishinaabeg People.

Officials from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) and ESDC will be available after the announcement on background for any questions you may have.

Earlier this year, I gave Canadians an update on the status of Canada’s immigration system and our ongoing work to make it more efficient and sustainable.

We recognize that the vast majority of our labour force growth has been driven by immigration. Canada’s aging population needs newcomers to help address demographic pressures and sustain our social programs over the long term.

What we heard from Canadians is that they expect Canada to identify the right number of newcomers with the needed skills, and help set them up for success.

Today, I’m here to share some of the results of that ongoing work, and the actions we intend to take to maintain a world-class and well-managed immigration system.

How we got here

To support what Canada needs, our immigration system also needs to continuously adapt to new realities.

We have been through a period of significant change in just a few short years. At the start of the pandemic, we saw the unprecedented closing of our borders and a halt on the flow of goods and people.

As we emerged from the pandemic, Canada faced severe labour shortages. We took steps and adapted with new and temporary measures. These actions were necessary to support the urgent needs of businesses and our economy, and to help us navigate that challenging period.

We should acknowledge that, in the uncertainty following the worst of the pandemic, temporary measures were allowed to run on longer than needed, and an urgent pivot is now necessary.

Today, our economy has evolved, and our labour market has softened.

While there are positive signs of improvements, families and communities are now facing pressures and we need to take action.

This summer, I met directly with stakeholders across the country, and we heard from many Canadians online.

I have discussed the challenges and needs of communities with my provincial and territorial counterparts.

We heard from a range of experts—including economists, business leaders and service providers—about the state of our immigration system, and how our targets are impacting our communities and economy.

The challenges—and actions needed—are clear: Canada has seen a sharp increase in the volume of temporary residents in recent years, driven by a rise in international students, and temporary foreign workers, in addition to a significant increase in asylum claimants.

To be clear: all newcomers are valued in Canada. They contribute to Canada’s economic, social and cultural fabric. Our economic future depends on those we bring to Canada.

But we also need to recognize that this can impact communities, such as the increases in unemployment amongst youth and newcomers.

By November 1, I will announce our newest Immigration Levels Plan for the next three years. As we head into the fall, we will rebalance our system by setting the right number of newcomers as a critical part of a well-managed system.

We are introducing changes to further recalibrate international student, foreign worker and permanent resident volumes. That work has already started.

To understand where we are going, I wish to take stock of what we’ve already done and the results we’re seeing.

Challenges and recent changes

To make sure the entire plan makes sense for the needs of Canadians and the needs of our economy, for the first time ever in Canadian history, we will include targets for temporary residents in addition to permanent residents in our annual immigration levels planning.

Back in March, I announced our goal to reduce Canada’s temporary resident numbers from 6.5% of the total Canadian population to 5% over the next three years.

The number of temporary foreign workers saw a sharp increase from 437,000 in 2019 to more than 1.2 million in 2023.

This is due to temporary policies making work permits more widely available to fill labour market gaps and to boost our economy—at a time when it was needed, during the pandemic.

To be clear: our facilitative measures during the pandemic worked. As the situation has changed, these policies that were always meant to be temporary are not needed anymore, and we are adjusting accordingly by putting stricter access on work permits for international students after graduation, as well as removing work permit eligibility for spouses of undergraduate international students and individuals holding visitors’ permits.

Likewise, we ended unlimited off-campus working hours for international students. Students are now back to working 20 hours per week, as the new limit of 24 hours will be fully implemented later this fall.

I will provide an update once the 24 hours regulation come into effect, so students can plan accordingly. Until then, working more than 20 hours per week is a violation of the conditions of a study permit—and those who infringe the conditions may face enforcement actions.

Last year, Canada had over 900,000 international students—with some of these students facing difficulties in their journey.

In addition to the previously announced cap on international students, including temporary residents in the annual levels planning will help prevent similar challenges in the future.

To support international students and set them up for success, we have

• increased the cost of living requirement so students are better prepared for the reality of life in Canada, and
• implemented a systematic verification of letters of acceptance from designated learning institutions to protect students from fraud

Regarding the student cap, early signs indicate that the cap announced in January is effectively reigning in international student volumes. From January to August 2024, we had more than 200,000 fewer international students coming to Canada—a 38% decrease compared to 2023.

Recent reports also show that rent is stagnating in certain university towns. We’re cautiously optimistic: our policies are working.

We’re also working on the Recognized Institution Framework to set higher standards for adequate housing options, among other services and supports for future students.

At the same time, we remain committed to our long-standing humanitarian tradition of helping the world’s most vulnerable people while reinforcing the integrity of our humanitarian programs.

We are actively working on changes to improve our in-Canada asylum system. Investments from Budget 2024 will improve processing while maintaining the fairness and integrity of this system with significant new funding to support the housing needs of asylum claimants.

Earlier this year, we implemented a partial visa requirement for travellers from Mexico. We did this because there was a growing number of asylum claims by Mexican nationals, the majority of which were rejected, withdrawn or abandoned by the applicant. And this action is working. Between July 2023 and July 2024, there’s been nearly an 80% reduction in asylum claims by Mexican nationals.

The number of asylum claimants staying in hotels funded directly by the federal government has decreased to around 5,000, down from over 7,600 in January of this year, as IRCC and its partners have been working continuously with claimants as they transition to independent living.

Canada—like the rest of the world—faces unprecedented flows of migrants and refugees globally. That’s why we established a coordination table with provinces to work together to distribute asylum claimants fairly across the country—together.

And that is why it is disappointing that provinces have walked away, effectively ending the Asylum Working Group. For clarity, the federal government was—and is—at the table with resources to work on sharing this challenge as a country.

No asylum claimant is relocated without their consent—and provinces aren’t forced to take them on. We are working with provinces to demonstrate that there are longer-term economic and social benefits that may be available in welcoming asylum claimants, and the federal government is willing to work with provinces to support a sustainable and voluntary relocation model. What we need is partners who are willing, committed to and engaged on finding a way forward that is equitable and fair.

Next steps

This brings us to where we are today and the need for more changes to strengthen our temporary resident programs.

As we plan ahead for the 2025 and 2026 immigration levels, we are taking a hard, comprehensive look at our immigration programs, including where tough choices will have to be made.

As we continue to review and strengthen temporary resident programs, we are looking for more ways to reduce fraud and strengthen compliance rules for employers.

Announcements

In advance of our annual levels plan, I am announcing some new measures today to strengthen our temporary resident programs, to further align our immigration system to the realities facing our country, and to ensure the sustainability of our immigration system.

First, we will reduce the target on study permits issued by 10% in 2025 and 2026 compared to 2024. This means we aim to issue up to 437,000 study permits in both 2025 and 2026, which would represent about a 36% decrease from 2023.

Second, we will exempt fewer students from the cap.

This means, starting in 2025, master’s and doctoral students, among others, will be counted as part of the cap. As we have now included temporary residents into our levels planning, going forward, we will have an annual target for international students. Simply put: the international student cap is here to stay.

Some international students are better set up to integrate and succeed in Canada. In particular, graduate degree students are well aligned with Canada’s labour market needs. That’s why we will be reserving about 12% of the cap for these students and aligning the Post-Graduation Work Permit Program with our economic priorities.

Over the next three years, we expect these changes to yield approximately 300,000 fewer study permit holders.

As of November 1, we will institute a new language proficiency requirement for post-graduation work permit applicants that is aligned with requirements for permanent residence streams.

A Canadian Language Benchmark (CLB) level 7 for university graduates and CLB 5 for college graduates will be required for anyone applying for a post-graduation work permit on or after November 1, 2024.

And for prospective students applying on or after November 1, post-graduation work permit eligibility will depend on the level of study—graduates from bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degree programs will remain eligible for a work permit of up to three years. These graduates are more likely to acquire transferable knowledge and skills, and be able to adapt to changing economic circumstances over the long term.

Graduates from programs at public colleges will only be eligible for a work permit of up to three years only if their field of study is linked to labour market shortages in Canada.

These changes will ensure that graduates have the skills and work opportunities to successfully integrate into Canada’s labour market and potentially transition to permanent residence.

Over the next three years, we expect these changes to yield approximately 175,000 fewer post-graduation work permits.

In the near future, we will also take further measures to restrict eligibility for spousal open work permits.

We will be further limiting work permit eligibility for spouses of students in doctoral and certain master’s programs, select professional programs, and certain pilot programs.

Over the next three years, we expect these changes to yield approximately 50,000 fewer work permits for the spouses of students group.

We will also be limiting work permit eligibility to include only spouses of highly skilled, specialized workers such as C-suite executives, scientists, engineers, lawyers, professors and technicians, or of workers in sectors where there are key labour shortages.

Spouses of workers in critical sectors, like health care and construction, will continue to be eligible for work permits.

Over the next three years, we expect these changes to yield approximately 100,000 fewer work permits for this group of spouses.

With the changes in the last couple of years, the context has changed and we see new threats trying to exploit our immigration programs.

To that end, I have asked my deputy minister to review how visa officers make decisions in this new context, including the tools, training, analysis and procedures used to approve temporary resident visas.

Working with my colleague, Minister Boissonnault, I will bring in further measures later this year to detect and prevent fraud in temporary worker programs.

Conclusion

As we continue to adapt our immigration to new challenges and needs, we will explore any and all necessary changes required to identify and mitigate threats to our immigration programs.

We have listened to Canadians, including our provincial, territorial, and municipal partners and community leaders, and we will continue to protect the integrity of our system and grow our population responsibly.

Immigration is vital for Canada, and we have a long-standing tradition of welcoming those who work hard to make Canada their home. With these changes, we are making immigration work for our country so everyone has access to the quality jobs, homes and supports they need to thrive.

By November 1, I will table the annual immigration levels plan for 2025 to 2027 that will reflect the needs of our economy and communities. To those who would complain about worker shortages, here’s my message: there’s no better time to hire and invest in Canadian workers.

Thank you.