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Fil-Canadians weigh in on Canada's tighter immigration policies

Faced with a housing crisis and unprecedented population growth, Canada is drastically cutting new immigration for the first time in years.

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Rowena Papasin

TFC News

<div><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/I43CezA_WEQ?&amp;feature=youtu.be&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe> </div>Faced with a housing crisis and unprecedented population growth, Canada is drastically cutting new immigration targets for the first time in years. From 2025 to 2027, Canada will bring in a total of 1.1 million new permanent residents, marking a 21 percent drop from previous years.Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said the move aims to give all levels of government time to catch up and invest in necessary social services to accommodate more people in the future.Canada&#x27;s previous target for 2025 and 2026 was 500,000 each year, but this will be reduced to less than 400,000 until 2027.Immigration Minister Marc Miller indicated that the government will instead prioritize processing temporary residents already in Canada.&quot;The current plan reduces next year&#x27;s projections from 500,000 permanent residents to 395,000,&quot; he said, &quot;a net reduction of 105,000 permanent residents immediately in 2025. After that, in 2026, a progression down to 380,000 to stabilize the numbers at 365,000 in 2027.&quot;Miller explained that this change means the government will not have to build 670,000 housing units in the next three years. The government has also reduced the issuance of new study permits by 43 percent, which Miller said has resulted in lower rents in Vancouver, Surrey, and Toronto.Trudeau added that unscrupulous businesses have taken advantage of foreign workers, while many colleges and universities have exploited the international student program.&quot;Under the watch of provinces, some colleges and universities are bringing in more international students than communities can accommodate,&quot; he noted, &quot;treating them as an expendable means to line their pockets. That&#x27;s unacceptable, and it needs to change.&quot;Canada&#x27;s population has grown by more than one million since January 2023. Statistics Canada also reported that the number of temporary residents rose to 805,000, most of whom are temporary foreign workers.Many Filipino Canadians have since welcomed the government&#x27;s announcement.Jill Saulon, a student, believes it is unfair for some to use fraudulent means to gain entry. Another student, Leana Espiritu, noted that many businesses prefer to hire international students over locals.&quot;It&#x27;s just a bit biased and unfair to those who are living here,&quot; she said, &quot;how they can&#x27;t seem to get any jobs while international students can. I still struggle in my high school classes with international students. It&#x27;s nothing I have against them, but I just think that the immigration system is a bit broken.&quot;For his part, migrant worker Jun De Leon expressed hope that Canada will also support those already in the country.&quot;The cuts are okay with me,&quot; he said. &quot;But I hope they will also help the locals and those who are already here. I hope they focus on that instead of those who have yet to arrive.&quot;

Faced with a housing crisis and unprecedented population growth, Canada is drastically cutting new immigration for the first time in years.