Advocates concerned temporary immigration cuts don't address systemic issues

The Carney government’s first budget will significantly reduce the number of temporary immigrants it admits to Canada over the next three years.

The cuts are being made to the temporary foreign worker program and the international student program. The 2026 target for temporary foreign worker (TFW) arrivals is now 60,000, down from the 82,000 the government announced last year, and the international student target is now 150,000, down from 305,900.

The move aligns with the tougher stance the Carney government has made on immigration compared to his predecessor, Justin Trudeau. 

During a conversation at the Canadian Club in Toronto on Friday, Carney mentioned that in 2018 temporary residents were about three per cent of Canada's population, and by the time he became prime minister they made up 7.5 per cent.

“That is an enormous shift in a very short period of time, and far exceeded our ability to welcome people and make sure that they had good housing and services,” said Carney. 

The TFW program allows employers to hire foreign workers to fill positions that are unable to be filled by Canadians.

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has said he wants the federal government to scrap the program entirely, saying it has led to increased youth unemployment by importing cheap labour.

"The Liberals have to answer: Why is it that they are shutting our own youth out of jobs and replacing them with low-wage, temporary foreign workers from poor countries who are ultimately being exploited?" he said in September.

But Lynn Bueckert, the secretary business manager for the Hospital Employees' Union in B.C., said in a statement that foreign workers are filling critical positions — “sustaining the system, not draining it.”

Marisa Berry Mendez, a campaigner with the francophone wing of Amnesty International Canada, said the TFW cuts do not address the exploitative nature of the program. 

A report from Amnesty International called on the federal government to overhaul the TFW program and Tomoya Obokata, a special rapporteur for the UN Human Rights Office, called the program “a breeding ground for contemporary forms of slavery.”

The top occupations for temporary foreign workers are in agriculture, often as general farm workers or harvesting labourers.

Berry Mendez said the root of the problem is that the TFW visa ties the worker to their employer. The program also prevents temporary foreign workers from pursuing permanent residency because they are seen as “low-skilled,” she said.

“If they’re in a situation of abuse then they’re pretty much trapped,” she said.