The Canadian federal government has announced an immigration levels plan to pause the population growth in the short term in order to witness a population decline in 2025 and 2026.
According to the Xinhua news agency report, the population of Canada has been increasing each year since 1867 because of the endless immigration.
On Thursday, the Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada has said that the 2025-2027 Immigration Levels Plan is expected to result in a marginal population decline of 0.2 per cent in both 2025 and 2026 before returning to population growth of 0.8 per cent in 2027.
According to the statement these forecasts account for the announcement of reduced targets across multiple immigration streams over the next two years, as well as expected temporary resident outflows resulting from the five per cent target, natural population loss, and other factors
For the first time, the levels plan is including controlled targets for temporary residents, specifically international students, and foreign workers, as well as for permanent residents. Canada's population has grown in recent years and has reached 41 million in April 2024. Immigration has accounted for almost 98 per cent of this growth in 2023, 60 per cent of which can be attributed to temporary residents.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said, “Today, we're announcing that we will reduce the number of immigrants we bring in over the next three years, which will result in a pause in the population growth over the next two years.”