Canada has restricted the number of permits issued to international students for study purposes and is making the process of obtaining a work permit more challenging. According to reports, the Liberal government of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is trying to lower the number of temporary residents in the nation, including foreign workers and students, as it trails in public opinion polls and recently suffered a significant defeat in a by-election.

The issue has become significantly more contentious in Canadian politics, especially with a federal election also slated for October 2025. On Wednesday, Canada unveiled alterations that will work to curb the number of international study visas issued to 437,000 in 2025. In comparison, Canada issued 509,390 permits in 2023 and 175,920 in the first seven months of 2024, as per the information from the immigration department. In a post on X, Trudeau wrote, “We’re granting 35% fewer international student permits this year. And next year, that number’s going down by another 10%. Immigration is an advantage for our economy — but when bad actors abuse the system and take advantage of students, we crack down.”

Additionally, some student spouses and temporary foreign workers would no longer be eligible for work permits under the new rules. The government of Canada announced on Wednesday that it was "reviewing visa decision-making so that our highly trained officers have the right tools to detect fraud and reduce the number of non-genuine visitors" in response to an increase in the number of refugees applying for asylum. The review will focus on strengthening measures to maintain visa integrity.

Immigration Minister Marc Miller stated in a statement that "the reality is that not everyone who wants to come to Canada will be able to—just like not everyone who wants to stay in Canada will be able to." The administration has already promised to bring the share of temporary immigrants to no more than 5% of the total population. In April, it stood at 6.8%.

According to a damning United Nations report, Canada's temporary foreign worker program is "a breeding ground for contemporary forms of slavery." Miller called this language "inflammatory." The executive director of the Migrant Workers Alliance for Change, Syed Hussain, released a statement saying, "The Ministers made no mention, not even once, about workers’ rights, instead continuing to obsess about numbers and cuts."

“Reducing the numbers of migrants will not stop their exploitation; giving them equal rights and the power to exercise those rights will – and that is only possible through permanent resident status for all.” Expressing disappointment, Armine Yalnizyan, an economist and Atkinson Fellow on the Future of Workers, that the announcement on Wednesday did not include a strategy for transferring temporary immigrants to permanent status.

“These are not temporary jobs. Why aren’t we facilitating permanence for these people?” she asked. “We are not going to grow economically without more newcomers. So we’ve got to be very clear on what the future path is.” Even as post-pandemic inflation slowed to the Bank of Canada's target of 2% annually in August, migrants have been held accountable for societal issues such as a lack of affordable housing and an increased cost of living. Immigrant advocates as well as some economists argue that the problem cannot be placed at the feet of migrants alone. They are of the opinion that newly vulnerable strangers should not be held responsible for the complexity of economic issues in the country. However, more Canadians now feel that the country accepts too many immigrants, and anti-migrant feelings and attacks have risen in a country once known to welcome newcomers.

Despite all this, the Canadian government is now trying to cap the number of temporary residents it has been increasing for years. In January, it slapped a two-year cap on international students, one that is said to nearly cut in half the approvals of this year. Last week, the government rolled back some of the 2022 expansions to the temporary foreign worker program. It lowered the maximum percentage of low-wage temporary foreign workers an employer can hire in certain sectors, and it also ended the practice of allowing low-wage temporary foreign workers in communities with high unemployment rates.

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