Right call or not? Canadians react to Trudeau slashing immigration targets

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Social media has been abuzz with reactions to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s announcement on Thursday that his government would dramatically slash immigration targets over the next few years.

Previously, the government’s permanent resident targets for the next two years stood at 500,000 per year. Now, the target for next year is set to 395,000 and will taper even further in 2026 (380,000) and 2027 (365,000).

The feds also plan to reduce temporary residents by 5% of the population by the end of 2026, adding that the population will “decrease over the next few years as significantly more temporary residents will transition to being permanent residents or leave Canada compared to new ones arriving.”

The government says Canada’s temporary resident population will decline by 445,901 in 2025 and 445,662 in 2026 compared to each previous year. A modest increase of 17,439 is expected in 2027.

During the announcement, Trudeau said the measures will “result in a pause in the population growth over the next two years.”

Canadians have taken to social media to share their thoughts and reactions to the announcement on social media.

Some felt that the new measures should have been implemented sooner.

“About two years too late,” said one X user.

“It’s too late,” echoed another.

“Too late for that! Canadians have been feeling the effects of mismanagement for far too long. A temporary pause won’t fix the underlying issues,” read another comment on X.

One person sarcastically noted that the federal government “fell asleep at the wheel, hit the side rails, and are now wide awake.”

Immigration has continued to be a hot-button topic in the country, and a recent survey revealed that Canadians’ opinions on the issue are rapidly changing.

According to the Environics Institute’s findings, Canadians’ support for immigration has seen a sharp decline, with public opinion reaching its lowest level in decades.

Its survey found that six in ten (58%) Canadians now believe that “the country accepts too many immigrants” — a 14% increase since 2023.

“This is the most rapid change over a two-year period since Focus Canada began asking this question in 1977 and reflects the largest proportion of Canadians who say there is too much immigration since 1998,” stated the report.

Skepticism about new immigration policies

Others were skeptical of the new targets and Trudeau changing his tune on immigration policies.

“Less than two years ago, this government bucked the restrictions on student work permits to allow them to work 40 hours a week because nobody wanted to work,” stated X user Daniel Rempel.

“Now too many people want to work? This, like the student visa cap, is just veiled xenophobia.”

“Stop moving to the centre,” stated one commenter. “This is what’s going to cost you the election… more than your inability to pass promised electoral reform.”

Another X user said the mismanagement of Canada’s immigration system has contributed to “anti-immigrant rhetoric.”

That sentiment was agreed upon by an individual who noted that this decision would “add fuel to a xenophobic culture.”

One X user expressed that “immigrants who came to Canada and followed all the rules should be the most pissed off at the current state of immigrant affairs.”

The Migrants Rights Network also released a statement about the immigration cuts, stating that the Trudeau government was continuing to “scapegoat migrants for the housing and affordability crisis, focusing on numbers of migrants instead of their rights and breaking its commitments to immigration.”

Syed Hassan, a spokesperson for the group, added that the decision is a “disgraceful assault on migrants rights.”

“The Liberals, desperate to claw back their sinking poll numbers, had already slashed over 775,000 study and work permits and now are further pandering to racism and xenophobia with these announcements,” stated Hassan.

Last week, the group urgently called for permanent resident status to be granted to all temporary migrant workers as they believe it is “the only solution to ending the systemic abuse they endure.”

The “right” move

Others acknowledged the federal government was making the “right decision.”

“Let’s take this time to build more homes and critical infrastructure that is needed to support a growing country.”

“Say what you want about Trudeau, I however have a lot more respect for a government that can admit their oopsie,” noted another.

“This seems like common sense,” read one comment.

During his announcement on Thursday, Trudeau admitted that the pandemic impacted Canada’s economy and that, between addressing labour needs and maintaining population growth, the federal government “didn’t get them quite right.”

The new measures follow the federal government’s previously announced changes to the temporary foreign worker program and measures to cap international student permits.

With files from Imaan Sheikh and Irish Mae Silvestre 

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