Canada is cutting its immigration targets by at least 20 per cent for next year.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Marc Miller announced the changes in a live conference on Thursday morning.

"Canadians are justifiably proud of our immigration system. It has made our economy the envy of the world. It's how we've built strong, diverse communities. It's how we've demonstrated that differences can and must be a source of strength, not a source of weakness, for communities and society. Immigration is vital to our future. And as a federal government, we have to make sure that that pride, that faith in immigration, is not undermined," Trudeau began.

"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."

The prime minister had teased the announcement in a post on X yesterday.

We’re going to have fewer temporary foreign workers in Canada.

We’re bringing in stricter rules for companies to prove why they can’t hire Canadian workers first.

— Justin Trudeau (@JustinTrudeau) October 23, 2024

Previously, the government's permanent resident targets for the next two years stood at 500,000 per year. Now, the target for next year is set to 395,000 and will taper even further in 2026 (380,000) and 2027 (365,000).

The feds also plan to reduce temporary residents by 5 per cent of the population by the end of 2026, adding that the population will "decrease over the next few years as significantly more temporary residents will transition to being permanent residents or leave Canada compared to new ones arriving."

Compared to each previous year, the government says Canada's temporary resident population will decline by 445,901 in 2025 and 445,662 in 2026. A modest increase of 17,439 is expected in 2027.

The new measures build on the government's previously announced measures to cap international student permits and reform the temporary foreign worker program.

All of these measures are being implemented with a single aim: to "stabilize our population growth, to give all levels of government time to catch up, time to make the necessary investments in health care, in housing, in social services to accommodate more people in the future," shared Trudeau.

"We need others to step up and do their part, too. Far too many corporations have chosen to abuse our temporary measures employed in exploiting foreign workers while refusing to hire Canadians for a fair wage, all while under the watch of provinces, some colleges and universities are bringing in more international students than communities can accommodate."

He admitted that in the tumultuous times as Canada emerged from the pandemic, between addressing labour needs and maintaining population growth, the federal government "didn't get them quite right."

"We've been a very generous country and will continue to do so," said Minister Miller. "The numbers that we announce today roughly take us back to a very ambitious plan that was put forward in about 2020. It reflects the fact that we have and we will continue to listen to Canadians."