OTTAWA - The Canadian government will decrease the number of temporary residents allowed into the country, and for the first time, will set targets for the percentage they represent in the total Canadian population as is done for permanent resident arrivals, Immigration Minister Marc Miller announced at a news conference in Ottawa on Thursday.
"Canada has had a sharp increase in the volume of temporary residents in recent years - from the arrival of international students, to foreign workers filling job vacancies, to those fleeing wars and natural disasters," he told reporters.
Miller said that for instance "we will have close to 300,000 arrivals of Ukrainians in Canada by the end of the month".
"These are important global commitments," said the immigration minister, who added that there needs to be "an honest conversation about what the rise in international migration means for Canada as we plan ahead."
Miller said that last year, temporary residents comprised 6.2 per cent of Canada's population, or 2.5 million people. Three years from now, the Canadian government wants that share to decrease to 5 per cent.
The minister said that he would convene a meeting with his counterparts in Canada's 10 provinces and three territories to discuss the reduced targets for temporary residents based on the "unique labour needs and capacity" across the country before the Canadian government releases its annual immigration-level plan this fall.
Last November, the Canadian government set a target for 500,000 permanent residents in 2025. In January, Miller announced that Canada would put a cap on the number of international students, who represent 42 per cent of temporary residents in the country.
At the same news conference, Employment and Workforce Development Minister Randy Boissonnault said that as of May 1, employers in such sectors as food manufacturing, as well as accommodation and food services will face a reduction of the number of temporary foreign workers in low-wage positions allowed from 30 per cent to 20 per cent.
However, employers in the construction and healthcare sectors will be allowed to hire temporary foreign workers until at least Aug 31.
"These are areas that have critical labor shortages - and with the ambition that our government has for building 2.5 million homes over the next 10 years, we need to have every single worker we can in the construction sector, and to make sure that our healthcare sector has the workers it needs," said Boissonnault, who added that as of May 1, the Canadian government is encouraging employers to consider hiring asylum workers "and underrepresented groups who have a valid work permit" before accessing the temporary foreign-worker programme. - BERNAMA-XINHUA