Canada’s rapid population growth is slowing as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government cuts immigrationHowever, the country is still a long way from its goal of drastically reducing the number of temporary residents, a group that is now larger than ever.
It is estimated that 250,000 people were added in the three months to July 1, This represents a quarterly growth rate of 0.6%, Statistics Canada reported Wednesday in Ottawa.This is the first time since 2020 that quarterly growth was slower than the same period last year.
Canada had seen a record increase in population following the easing of pandemic travel restrictions. The country has added more than 2.35 million people since mid-2022, roughly equivalent to the population of Houston While increased immigration helped boost the economy, pressures on housing and utility costs led to sharp declines in support for immigration and for Trudeau, forcing him to pull out the welcome mat for some newcomers.
Trudeau’s plan to reduce immigration has focused on temporary residents, a group that includes international students, foreign workers and asylum seekers. The government’s efforts appear to be slowing the growth of this cohort, albeit at a glacial pace. Canada added 118,000 temporary residents in the second quarter, the smallest net increase since the first quarter of 2023 and the third consecutive quarterly decline. That was driven by a decline in study permit holders.
3 million people strong
Still, while the growth rate of temporary immigrants has slowed, the total number of such residents in the country surpassed 3 million for the first time. The proportion of this group reached 7.3% in the second quarter.a jump of one percentage point since March, when the government announced its plan to reduce the proportion to 5% over the next three years.
To achieve the goal immediately, the number of temporary residents in the country would have to decrease by 30%, or almost one million people..
“Although measures have already been introduced to curb the volume of temporary residents, their effects are not immediate,” Aïssa Diop, a spokeswoman for Immigration Minister Marc Miller, said in an email. The proportion of the population in this group is expected to continue to increase throughout 2024 because it will take time before the measures come into force.he said, although the number of new students has begun to decline.
In July, the Bank of Canada raised its near-term population growth projections, anticipating that the government’s plan to limit the influx of temporary residents would take longer than expected to curb immigration. But as population growth normalizes and approaches levels close to long-term historical averages, economic growth is expected to be weaker in the coming years..
Permanent residence
Temporary residents have to leave the country or obtain permanent residency to lose their non-permanent status, But both are equally difficult, said Mikal Skuterud, a professor of economics at the University of Waterloo..
“They have economic limitations. They came here hoping to transition to permanent residency. But those permanent residency numbers have a limit.”he said. “So they are between a rock and a hard place.”
The government has currently set a goal of admitting around half a million permanent residents a year, But the immigration minister could adjust those levels when he announces new figures before November 1.when Miller will also set limits on temporary residents for the first time.
Canada’s annual population growth rate was 3% in the second quarter, a slight slowdown from the 3.2% pace of the first quarterbut still among the fastest in the world.
With a quarter of a million residents added in the second quarter, 41.3 million people now live in Canada. But while population growth showed signs of slowing, it is still higher than in any other second quarter in the five decades leading up to 2022. International migration accounted for 96% of the increases, while births outnumbered deaths by less than 10,000.highlighting a rapid population ageing common in advanced economies.
But strong immigration in recent years helped reverse the trend, at least in the short term. For the third consecutive year, The median age in Canada decreased slightly, reaching 40.3 years on July 1, while the average age remained unchanged from the previous year.This contrasts with the general trend of an increase in the median age and average age from 1967 to 2021.
