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Trudeau admits immigration missteps, announces program reforms
The government’s new immigration plan for 2025-2027 reflects a 21 percent reduction in the target for permanent residents.
Stock image. / Pexels
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has admitted that his government could have acted faster to address issues in the immigration system, pointing to “bad actors” exploiting its loopholes.
His remarks came in a nearly seven-minute video posted on his YouTube channel on Nov.17, where he elaborated on the reasoning behind a reduction in permanent resident admissions and changes to the foreign workers program.
"In the last two years, our population has grown really fast, like baby boom, fast," Trudeau said, adding that "increasingly bad actors like fake colleges and big chain corporations have been exploiting our immigration system for their own interests."
Trudeau explained that after the COVID-19 pandemic, there was a pressing demand for labor. “So, we brought in more workers. It was the right choice. It worked. Our economy grew. Restaurants and stores reopened, businesses kept running, but most importantly, in spite of lots of economists’ predictions, we avoided the worst-case scenario – a recession. But some saw that as an opportunity to profit from gaming the system,” he said.
Addressing the issue of international students, Trudeau criticized certain educational institutions for exploiting them. “Far too many colleges and universities used international students to raise their bottom line. There is fraud and abuse, and it needs to end,” he said, highlighting how some institutions charge foreign students significantly higher fees than domestic students.
The government’s new immigration plan for 2025-2027 reflects a 21 percent reduction in the target for permanent residents. The admission goal has been scaled back from 500,000 to 395,000, signaling a shift in Canada's approach to balancing population growth with system integrity.
The reforms aim to curb misuse while maintaining the country’s economic growth, Trudeau suggested, stressing the importance of fairness and accountability in immigration policies.
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