Advocates concerned temporary immigration cuts don't address systemic issues

The Carney authorities’s list one budget testament significantly trim back 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.

During the process of assembling the Amnesty International report, Berry Mendez said she heard stories of wage theft, unsafe living and working conditions, verbal abuse, sexual abuse and violence.

Bueckert wants to see a “federal pathway to permanent residency for health-care workers,” and Berry Mendez said permanent immigration should be used to meet the “vast majority of labour market demands.”

Quebec businesses say immigration reductions in federal budget will make labour shortages worse

The cuts to international students could have a significant impact on the resources of post-secondary institutions, said Annabree Fairweather, the executive director of the Confederation of University Faculty Associations of B.C.

In Canada, undergraduate international students were expected to pay an average of $41,746 in tuition this school year, compared with $7,734 for domestic students.

Universities and colleges across the country have increasingly relied upon international students for funding. Provincial funding to universities fell from 60.7 per cent in 2008-09 to 44.8 per cent in 2022-23. The average was weighed down by Ontario, whose public funding fell from 54.3 per cent in 2008-09 to 32.5 per cent in 2022-23.

Last year, after the federal government placed a cap on international students, institutions struggled to fill the financial gap. The Council of Ontario Universities projected a financial loss of $300 million for last school year, and worsening losses in the years following. 

Post-secondary institutions have had to reduce costs by cutting programs and teaching positions. Conestoga College, based in Kitchener, Ont., cut several programs days before the start of the school year, and said it will axe around 80 programs before next fall. 

Wasiimah Joomun, the executive director of the Canadian Alliance of Student Associations, said cuts are widespread in post-secondary education.

“At the institution level, even at the student union level, they are now having conversations about what are the core services that we do absolutely need to provide and what are the core services we can let go,” said Joomun.

Fairweather said the reduction in resources has negative effects on both students and faculty. Cuts to staff mean larger class sizes and less administrative support, causing work to be downloaded on remaining instructors. 

“That work distribution is contributing to, honestly, a real crisis of burnout and the faculty being unable to deliver the kinds of quality education that they have traditionally been able to offer students,” said Fairweather.

Both Fairweather and Joomun said federal and provincial governments need to reassess how they fund education in order to make up for the shortfall the reduction of international student tuition causes. 

“Targeting international students without addressing the real issue of funding in post-secondary is a short-sighted approach,” said Fairweather. 

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