Says business reliance on temporary foreign workers driving down wages in some sectors
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau claims that the growth in the number of temporary immigrants in Canada needs to be brought “under control”.
The federal government is looking to limit the number of temporary immigrants coming to the country as it has ballooned far beyond what the country can absorb, he said during a housing announcement in Dartmouth, N.S., according to Global News.
“Whether it’s temporary foreign workers or whether it’s international students in particular, they have grown at a rate far beyond what Canada has been able to absorb,” Trudeau said.
Is Canada accepting too many immigrants?
Trudeau noted that, in 2017, two per cent of Canada’s population was made up of temporary immigrants.
“Now we’re at 7.5 per cent of our population comprised of temporary immigrants,” he said in the Global News report.
“That’s something we need to get back under control.”
Previously, in a Bloomberg report, Immigration Minister Marc Miller noted: “We have gotten addicted to temporary foreign workers”.
Job seekers from outside Canada have shown far greater interest in coming to work in the country, according to a previous Indeed report.
What are the problems with high levels of immigration in Canada?
The surge in immigrant numbers is driving mental health challenges for international students, said Trudeau.
In January, the federal government announced it is limiting the number of international students it will allow to come to the country this year in hopes of addressing the holes in the way things are today. Ottawa is putting a cap on roughly 360,000 approved applications for 2024, a decrease of 35 per cent from 2023.
Also, because of the surge, more businesses are relying on temporary foreign workers and that is driving down wages in some sectors, said Trudeau, according to the Global News report.
“We want to get those numbers down. It’s a responsible approach to immigration that continues on our permanent residents, as we have, but also hold the line a little more on the temporary immigration that has caused so much pressure in our communities,” he said.
In February, the Alberta Federation of Labour (AFL) called on the federal government to close the Recognized Employer Pilot (REP) under the Temporary Foreign Worker (TFW) program as it is, they claimed, being exploited by low-wage employers.
