[Report] Migration Cuts in Canada: The Human Impact
Carlos Rojas from the Migrant Council and Stacey Gómez from the Migrant Workers’ Rights Centre share their perspectives on the reduction of immigration levels outlined in the 2025 federal budget and in Canada’s multi-year immigration plan. Quebec has also announced cuts to the admission of new immigrants.
Canada aims to admit only 385,000 temporary residents next year, representing a 43% decrease compared to the 2025 target.
Photo: CBC / Robert Short
Maria-Gabriela Aguzzi
Published: November 7, 2025 – 4:00 a.m.
This week, Canada unveiled its 2025 national budget, which includes the 2026–2028 Immigration Levels Plan. In this proposal, still to be approved by the House of Commons, the federal government, led by Liberal Prime Minister Mark Carney, aims to restore “control” over a system that, according to authorities, had reached “unsustainable” growth rates.
As Carney had previewed in recent weeks, the plan sets out a reduction in temporary residents, seeking to bring their number down to less than 5% of the Canadian population by the end of 2027. To achieve this goal, Canada aims to admit only 385,000 temporary residents next year, representing a 43% decrease compared to the 2025 target.
These figures highlight the magnitude of the proposed change, as the temporary resident population had more than doubled, rising from 3.3% of the Canadian population in 2018 to 7.5% in 2024.
Carney and his government argue that this growth has placed significant pressure on the availability of affordable housing, the healthcare system, and schools, leading them to conclude that continuing at the same pace is no longer sustainable.
More figures
According to the plan, for 2027 and 2028, the reduction will be even more significant, dropping to 370,000 temporary residents.
The cuts will mainly affect foreign worker programs and international students, but will not include employees in the agricultural sector or those working in seafood processing.
Regarding work permits to be issued in the coming years, the plan establishes 230,000 permits in 2026, and 220,000 in both 2027 and 2028.
Finance and National Revenue Minister François-Philippe Champagne and Prime Minister Mark Carney presented their first federal budget on Tuesday.
Photo: La Presse canadienne / Justin Tang
When it comes to study permits, these will be capped at 155,000 in 2026 and 150,000 in each of the following two years.
These new targets represent a reduction of roughly one-quarter compared to the immigration plan released last year, which had projected the admission of more than 516,000 temporary residents.
In fact, the federal budget presented on Tuesday, November 4, noted that the number of temporary foreign workers has already been cut in half this year compared to 2024, and that there has been a 60% decrease in the arrival of international students. Asylum applications have also fallen by about one-third this year compared to 2024.
Stabilizing the number of permanent residents
In contrast to temporary residents, the federal government aims to stabilize the number of permanent resident admissions at 380,000 per year over three years (2026, 2027, and 2028). However, this figure represents a decrease from the 395,000 planned for 2025.
The government stated that the focus will be on the economic class, whose share will increase from 59% to 64%. The goal, according to the plan, is to attract “the best and brightest” talent to meet long-term labour market needs.
Federal Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Minister Lena Metlege Diab defended the policy as an essential step to restore the immigration system and public confidence.
Through the 2025 Annual Report to Parliament on Immigration, the minister affirmed that “this report highlights how we are restoring control of the immigration system and bringing immigration back to sustainable levels.”
Federal Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Lena Metlege Diab
Photo: Radio-Canada / Julie Sicot
Lena Metlege Diab emphasized that this approach seeks to balance economic growth with the nation’s social capacity.
The budget also proposes measures to recognize the contribution of those who are already established in Canada. It includes an initiative to accelerate the transition to permanent residency for up to 33,000 work permit holders in 2026 and 2027.
The rationale is that these workers have already “built strong roots in their communities, are paying taxes, and are helping to build the strong economy Canada needs.”
In addition, a one-time measure is proposed to fast-track permanent residency for protected persons, those whose asylum claims have already been approved.
Growing vulnerability
Carlos Rojas, director of the Migrant Council, a non-profit organization that supports asylum seekers and temporary workers, expressed sharp criticism of the budget’s direction, arguing that the government missed the opportunity to implement meaningful structural changes.
From his perspective, the policy fails to address current realities, offering outdated solutions. “What they’re giving us is a plan that would have been perfect for the 1990s,” Rojas emphasized, warning that by tightening legal pathways for entry and stay, the country is repeating the mistakes of other nations and reinforcing existing labour precarity.
“Canada is creating a black market for labour… and repeating the same mistakes the United States made when it tried to close its borders.”
This “black market,” he said, is being fueled by the threat of deportation and unstable status. Rojas pointed out that around two million people could lose their status in the coming months, and that instead of returning to their countries, many will choose to remain in Canada without documentation.
Carlos Rojas, president of the Migrant Council, believes that Canada had an opportunity to be bold in its approach to immigration, but that the reduction in the number of temporary residents will lead to an increase in the “black market” for labour.
Photo: RCI / Screenshot – María Gabriela Aguzzi
According to the 2025 Annual Report to Parliament on Immigration, a total of 1.6 million temporary residents were granted permits in 2024, including study permits, work permits, and temporary stay permits. Of these, approximately 687,000 were newcomers to Canada holding a work or study permit.
Over the past year, three million people held valid permits allowing them to enter or remain in Canada as temporary residents.
An emotional cost
The impact on migrants themselves, Rojas said, comes with a heavy emotional toll, extending even to programs such as family reunification, which affects not only migrants but also Canadian citizens.
“With these cuts, family reunification could take up to ten years to catch up, creating unacceptable human suffering and a sense of hopelessness that threatens to tear families apart,”
”The human cost is brutal. We’re seeing refugee families watching their children grow up through screens, families breaking apart. We’re seeing couples and households falling apart because people get tired of waiting.”
Rojas also questioned the effectiveness of the fast-track pathways to permanent residency, describing them as insufficient and geared toward the economic class.
“This leaves out the everyday worker, the person packing boxes, the one installing roofs on houses.”
For him, the government is “shooting itself in the foot,” since immigration is essential to Canada’s national identity and future development.
“Unfair blame”
Stacey Gómez, Executive Director of the Migrant Workers’ Rights Centre in Halifax, Nova Scotia, expressed concern about the overall direction of the 2025 Budget, which she said “prioritizes military spending over the well-being of ordinary people, including migrants.”
According to the federal budget announced on November 4, the Liberal government will allocate an additional $81.8 billion over five years to military spending.
Stacey Gómez believes that blaming migrant workers for some of Canada’s current economic and social problems is unfair.
Photo: Radio Canada International (RCI)
Her main concern lies with the government’s rhetoric, which seems to place blame on newcomers for systemic failures. Gómez pointed out that the official discourse diverts attention from the real causes of the crisis in public services.
“We’re seeing comments in the budget that blame migrants for problems such as access to housing, the healthcare system, and schools,” she said.
“But this blame is unfair because most migrant workers live in employer-owned housing, often in rural areas, and although they pay taxes, they are frequently excluded from essential services like healthcare and are prevented from bringing their families.”
Like Rojas, Gómez stressed that the lack of a clear pathway to permanent residency for temporary migrants perpetuates the vulnerability of Canada’s essential workforce.
“We know that without permanent residency, migrants remain in a vulnerable situation where it’s difficult for them to truly exercise their rights.”
Support network at risk
A particular point of concern for Gómez was the omission of the Migrant Workers Support Program in the budget, a program launched in 2022 with $49.5 million committed in the 2021 budget.
This program funds more than 110 community organizations across Canada, providing services to help migrant workers understand and exercise their rights.
Although the program had announced funding through March 2026, its absence in the new budget creates significant uncertainty.
“This program was not mentioned in this budget, so it seems they are going to cut the funding,” warned Gómez.
The elimination of this support, even though no official funding cut has been confirmed, would be difficult and would reduce the ways workers can access information and assistance, she added.
Cuts and emphasis on Francophonie
On Thursday, November 6, the Quebec government unveiled its own immigration policy, setting a cap of 45,000 new permanent residents per year from 2026 to 2029.
Unlike the federal approach, which primarily focuses on reducing the number of temporary residents, Quebec is adjusting its targets for permanent residents.
The new plan represents a significant decrease compared to the 61,000 permanent immigrants originally planned for the province this year.
Both Canadian and Quebec business sectors have repeatedly warned about the impact of immigration cuts on hiring and labour shortages.
The convergence of cuts in Ottawa and Quebec reflects a political consensus, albeit controversial, that Canada’s capacity to accommodate newcomers has been exceeded.
The question remains whether this “restoration of control” will achieve the desired sustainability without, as migrant advocates warn, pushing thousands of vulnerable people into the informal economy, while employers face serious challenges filling available positions.
Maria-Gabriela Aguzzi
