(Ottawa) Prime Minister Justin Trudeau recognizes that the federal government could have acted more quickly to reform immigration programs. He accused “bad actors” of taking advantage of the system.
Posted at 3:57 p.m.
David Baxter
The Canadian Press
Mr. Trudeau posted a nearly seven-minute video on YouTube on Sunday in which he discusses the recent reduction in the number of permanent residents admitted to Canada and changes to the temporary foreign worker program.
Over the next two years, the number of permanent residents will be reduced by approximately 20%, reaching 365,000 in 2027.
In the video, Mr. Trudeau talks about the need to increase immigration after the COVID-19 pandemic in order to stimulate the job market, specifying that this measure helped avoid a real recession.
Subsequently, however, he claims that some “bad actors” took advantage of these programs, such as employers trying to avoid hiring Canadians, schools recruiting more foreign students to receive higher tuition fees, or scammers promising false pathways to citizenship.
Mr. Trudeau believes he and his team could have acted more quickly when it became clear that businesses no longer needed this additional labor assistance.
The Liberal leader explains that the government’s goal in reducing the number of immigrants is to help stabilize population growth while the housing shortage persists. When the problem is resolved, he will gradually increase immigration rates again.
Canada
