Following today’s joint announcement from the Prime Minister of Canada and his Minister of Immigration, Daniel Bernhard, CEO of the Institute for Canadian Citizenship, made the following statement:

“This drastic reduction in immigration levels will create more problems than it solves.

A decrease of 105,000 permanent residents represents less than 0.25% of the population. This measure will not cool the housing market. Instead, Canadians will feel the absence of 105,000 fewer workers—workers who could build more housing, staff more daycare spaces, and reduce healthcare wait times. These needs will only grow as immigration declines.

It is misleading to say that we have too many immigrants for our housing and healthcare systems to handle. The truth is, we don’t have enough housing and healthcare capacity to support all the immigrants Canada needs to grow and prosper.

We cannot slow our way to success. We can only grow our way to success.

Immigration is not the cause of Canada’s challenges. While we understand the government’s desire to restore public confidence in the immigration system, we hope today’s announcement does not lead anyone to believe that the solution to slow growth is to grow more slowly.”

-30-

Media Contact 

Alex Nanoff 
alex@liaisonstrategies.ca
media@forcitizenship.ca
+1 613 709 6318