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Immigration board asks feds to better track temporary residents
Mahboubi says Canada lacks clear data on expired visas and permits as study and work permit arrivals fell sharply this year.
Canada needs to generate better tracking data for temporary residents, the head of an immigration expert panel said on Sunday as the country works to reduce their total population.
Two years ago, the government began cutting temporary resident numbers to address housing shortages and overburdened social services after the population peaked at over seven per cent in October 2024.
Parisa Mahboubi, chair of the Howe Institute's immigration targets council, said Canada is "flying in the dark" regarding tracking; new temporary worker arrivals dropped to 98,130 this year from 244,985 in 2024.
Conservative immigration critic Michelle Rempel Garner said Thursday that Prime Minister Mark Carney's system control claims are "slightly detached from the truth," citing job crises across the country.
The government aims to reduce temporary residents to less than five per cent by 2027, though Mahboubi suggests a three to four per cent target aligns better with historical averages.