Canada Immigration Minister Marc Miller told reporters that limits are likely to be imposed on the entry of temporary foreign workers entering the country in 2024 or beyond. He added that the system has “run a bit rampant for far too long”.  The minister mentioned that he will unveil reforms to address the large influx of temporary foreign workers at the beginning of 2024.

Miller also implied that there is a connection between Canada’s housing crisis and the large influx of foreign students as well as temporary foreign workers. He further told reporters that the number of people who have entered Canada on a temporary basis has “skyrocketed”. “I’m not trying to target specific people,” he said.

“I’m attempting to focus on the consequences of a system that has been operating somewhat erratically for far too long and is having a noticeable effect,” Miller noted. Temporary foreign workers enter Canada in a variety of ways such as temporary agricultural workers or international students who obtain postgraduate work permits to stay in the country.

Miller’s remarks came almost a week after Statistics Canada said in its recent data that the country’s population increased by over 430,000 in Q3 of 2023. This is the greatest rate of population growth in Canada in any quarter since 1957. As per this report, Canada is currently home to over 40.5 million people, of which 313,000 are immigrants.

This, however, is not the first time that Miller has raked up the immigrant problem in Canada. In a bid to reduce applications, Miller announced changes to foreign student program in December this year. Now, the applicants must demonstrate their ability to pay for living expenses with twice as much money.

The minister also said that he may consider revoking study permits if provinces like Ontario don’t act against colleges producing foreign graduates like “puppy mills”.

Marc Miller added that he intends insist that provinces in the country must stop licensing subpar colleges. He furthermore mentioned that he will take “further steps” to reduce the number of international students if provinces are unable to act in this regard. “Even after you net out the period during COVID, both represent increased volume that we’ve seen jump astronomically in the last few years,” he stated.