Business Groups Condemn Trudeau’s Modest Reduction In Foreign Workers

A letter sent to three of Trudeau’s cabinet ministers on August 1st, signed by the Canadian Chamber of Commerce and the Canadian Federation of Independent Business, warns that Ottawa’s planned reduction in temporary immigration could have “catastrophic economic consequences” for the business sector. The letter was written by Nancy Healey, who holds a government post called Commissioner for Employers.

Temporary residents – foreign workers, international students, and asylum seekers – now number roughly 2.5 million, making up 6.2% of Canada’s population. Amid widespread concern over housing prices, overloaded healthcare, strained infrastructure, and rising unemployment, calls to reduce this number have been increasing.

The Trudeau government is clearly feeling the pressure, and has committed to shrinking the number of temporary residents by 20%, with the goal of reducing their overall proportion of the population to 5% by 2027. The federal government has already capped the number of international students, and is now setting its sights on the foreign worker program – which has seen an astronomic rise since Trudeau first took office in 2015. In the fall, for the first time ever, temporary residents will be included in the immigration levels plan – previously, only permanent residents were included in the plan, while the number of temporary residents had no cap.

These measures will bring about a modest reduction in the number of temporary residents on Canadian soil. Nevertheless, the letter signed by the Canadian Chamber of Commerce and the Canadian Federation of Independent Business portrays the Trudeau government’s measures as a grave threat: “In the context of the current and future labor shortages that Canada will experience, it is crucial not to reduce the labor pool….Such a reduction would have catastrophic economic consequences for companies and limit their growth potential.”

Corporate interests in Canada continue to use the concept of a labour shortage to push for an open-door immigration policy, even as the unemployment rate stands at 6.4%, and youth unemployment stands at 14.2%. The claim that Canada is currently experiencing a labour shortage is particularly audacious, since it is now widely accepted that population growth is outpacing job growth – this has even been stated by the Bank of Montreal (BMO).

Corporations are one of the central drivers of Canada’s policy of mass immigration. Canadian Manufacturers & Exporters (CME), which represents various leading manufacturers across the country, has an entire tab on their website called “Labour Shortages”. Their top recommendation is to solve the alleged labour shortage with immigration: “Modernize Canada’s immigration and temporary foreign worker programs to ensure manufacturers have access to a talent pool with the knowledge, skills, and abilities they need to grow and thrive”.

The role played by the corporate sector in the nation’s immigration policy can be most clearly seen with the Century Initiative – a lobby seeking to grow Canada’s population to 100 million by 2100. This group has received donations from various corporate and banking interests including BMO, Scotiabank, TD Bank, the Business Council of Canada, and AGT Food and Ingredients.

Meanwhile, the views of the Canadian public continue to harden, with a poll from Research Co. finding that 44% of respondents think immigration is having a mostly negative effect on Canada – up 6% from last year. Only 42% said they believed immigration is having a mostly positive effect – down 3%.