Marc Miller the Minister of IRCC’s Speaking Notes: Strengthening Canada’s Temporary Resident Programs and Migration Pathways

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.