Canada to pause immigration: a setback for aspiring Pakistanis

TORONTO: Canada has announced it will slash immigration for the first time in years, a major blow to Pakistanis who were seeking immigration to settle abroad.

From 2025 to 2027, Canada will bring in a total of 1.1 million new permanent residents, a 21 percent drop from previous years, the government announced on Thursday

The number of temporary residents, meanwhile, will also decrease by about 30,000 to 300,000 in 2025, Immigration Minister Marc Miller said.

The government said the plan “will pause population growth in the short term to achieve well-managed, sustainable growth in the long term”.

The new immigration targets for Canada represent a break from the COVID-19 pandemic era when the government eased restrictions on temporary residents to fill labour shortages.

Last year, Canada had planned to bring in 500,000 new permanent residents in 2025 and the same amount in 2026. As of the second quarter of 2024, there were 2.8 million temporary residents, including workers and students, in Canada, according to Statistics Canada.

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 “Today’s announcement is the next step in our plan to address the evolving immigration needs of our country,” Miller said. “While it’s clear our economy needs newcomers, we see the pressures facing our country, and we must adapt our policies accordingly.”

“We didn’t get the balance quite right,” Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said of the change in policy.

The new plan will bring in 395,000 new permanent residents in 2025, 380,000 in 2026 and 365,000 in 2027, down from 485,000 in 2024.

Trudeau has lately faced pressure to step down amid slumping poll numbers and the rise in support for the opposition Conservatives.

Canada’s three-year immigration controls are projected to cause its population to decline by a marginal 0.2 percent in both 2025 and 2026. The next year, population is expected to shoot back up by 0.8 percent, according to the government.

“These changes will help provinces, territories and stakeholders align their capacities and allow the population to grow at a sustainable pace as we encourage institutions to do their part in better welcoming newcomers,” the government said.