Canada to cut temporary work permits, Indians to be hit

The Indian community in Canada has witnessed consistent growth in recent years.

In a blow to Indians looking to settle or work in Canada, Ottawa has announced that it will reduce the number of temporary residents coming to rue country. The Immigration Minister, Marc Miller, said they’ll first cut the number of temporary residents from 6.2 percent to 5 percent.

Addressing a press conference in Ottawa on Thursday, Employment Minister Randy Boissonnault, said the government will reduce the percentage of temporary foreign workers businesses can hire from 30 per cent to 20 per cent, except in certain sectors such as agriculture.

Temporary residents, like students and workers with permits, have been a big reason why Canada’s population has grown so fast. But this has raised concerns about finding enough housing and services, like healthcare, for all these new people. Right now, there are around 2.5 million temporary residents in Canada, including asylum seekers, refugees, students, and workers.

In 2023, India contributed 26,495 temporary foreign workers (TFWs) to Canada, making it among the top ten countries of origin for TFWP permit holders.

Canada’s temporary resident population exceeds 2.5 million, accounting for 6.2% of the total population.

Canada’s Immigration Minister, Marc Miller, indicated had to journalists last year that restrictions are likely to be implemented on the admission of temporary foreign workers beyond 2024.

The Indian community in Canada has witnessed consistent growth in recent years. The registered Indian population in Canada surged from 670,000 between 2000 and 2020 to over one million. By 2020, the number of registered Indians in Canada had reached 1,021,356.

Miller thinks they need to plan better and talk with the provinces about having enough housing for workers. He also wants to make it easier for temporary residents to become permanent residents.

Meanwhile, the Employment Minister, Randy Boissonnault, said they’re planning to reduce how many temporary foreign workers businesses can hire.

Boissonnault wants employers to try harder to hire Canadians or refugees before looking for workers from other countries. He said there are 1.2 million Canadians looking for work but 650,000 job openings.

The government wants employers to show they’ve tried to hire asylum seekers before bringing in someone from abroad. Miller thinks this, along with hiring international students, could help ease the housing problem since people already in Canada would already have a place to live.

Right now, the government sets targets for how many permanent residents they’ll let in, but they don’t do this for temporary residents, even though 42 percent of them are international students. Canada’s population has been growing faster than other big countries mainly because of immigration.

While the government used to say that high immigration was good for the economy and would help with the aging population and job shortages, some economists now say it’s making things like housing even harder to find.