Mike Moffat: It’s time for the federal government to get serious about immigration reform – The Hub

It’s time for the federal government to get serious about immigration reform

By Mike Moffatt, senior director of the Smart Prosperity Institute

In the last three-and-a-half years, Canada’s population has grown by 3 million people, the level the country typically experiences in a decade, and slightly more than we experienced in the entire 1990s. This level of growth was only sustainable if infrastructure and housing construction experienced similar increases. They did not, leaving our healthcare system underfunded and growing Canada’s shortfall of homes at nearly one million units. Addressing this must be a top priority of the government this fall.

Nearly all of Canada’s net population growth comes from international migration. Increases in Canada’s permanent resident immigration targets, from 250,000 to 500,000 a year, played a role, but the larger driver was a massive increase in non-permanent residents, from temporary foreign workers and international students. As I told cabinet ministers just a few days ago, “Our immigration system has shifted away from adding to the skills and cultural vibrancy of Canada to creating an underclass of guest workers. It has become a tool to allow provinces to cut funding to higher education.”

The staggering growth in non-permanent residents is a net increase in that it’s the difference between the number of new incoming residents on time-expiring visas, subtracting out those who leave the country and those who gain permanent residency.

Canada’s opportunity to address this situation will come with this November’s release of the 2025-2027 immigration levels. I will judge the new plan as a success if it does the following three things:

In March, the federal government committed to decreasing Canada’s non-permanent resident population (which is currently 2.8 million) down to 2.1 million over three years. The government should also commit to annual reductions in non-permanent residents by 250,000 each year, for the next seven years. By the end of 2031, Canada’s non-permanent resident population would therefore be one million persons, returning to the levels last seen in 2017.

The federal government should temporarily reduce the annual permanent resident target to around 300,000 persons per year. Coupled with the non-permanent resident population shrinking by 250,000 a year, Canada’s population growth would be effectively zero, giving the country time for infrastructure and housing to catch up to past population growth.

The plan should outline how the federal government, in conjunction with other levels of government, will address the current shortages in housing. The plan should give an estimate of the existing housing shortfall and provide annual targets for homebuilding. Once that shortfall is closed, immigration targets should be raised back up to 500,000, or potentially higher, if conditions allow.

While this may be characterized otherwise, this is a pro-immigration approach. Despite recent population growth, the status quo is not pro-immigration. Shifting Canada’s immigration system towards a system of temporary guest workers with few rights, which the United Nations has characterized as “a breeding ground for contemporary forms of slavery” is not pro-immigration. It is not pro-immigration to invite newcomers to our country and not ensure they have access to the housing, healthcare, and education they need to succeed. Pro-immigration should never be pro-exploitation.

Federal policymakers have the opportunity to reform the immigration system to make it work better for both newcomers and Canadians. They need to take it.