A B.C. immigration lawyer says the federal government’s decision to slash immigration targets is going to end up being a “black eye” for Canada.
David Aujla said the changes will make it more difficult for people already in the system and their relatives to come to Canada.
He said the decision is “politically motivated” and it will do more economic harm than good.
“When you have the government stating that we are dropping it by 200,000 or so, we’re just taking a step backwards,” Aujla said.
“Not only for the aspect of population growth or maintenance for Canada but (it’s a) tremendous hit when it comes to maintaining our work and the workers that we need, the skilled workers that we need for this country.”
Last week, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Immigration Minister Marc Miller announced the initiative, which is part of a major series of changes to immigration targets that Trudeau says aims to freeze population growth.
Jasroop Gosal, Surrey Board of Trade’s interim spokesperson and policy and research manager, said last week that they are disappointed by this change.
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“Last year, we, our business community, we were given numbers of 500,000 over the next couple of years and businesses, they prepared for that eventuality,” he told Global News.
“And now to have government come and change their immigration policy one year later, not even one year later, it is really interfering with their ability to plan for growth and stability.”
It has been projected there will be more than one million job openings in B.C. over the next decade.
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