Trudeau says he could have acted faster to make immigration changes, blames ‘bad actors’

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says the federal government could have acted more quickly to rein in immigration programs, after blaming “bad actors” for gaming the system.

Trudeau released a nearly seven-minute video on YouTube Sunday in which he talked about the recent reduction in the number of permanent residents admitted to Canada and changes to the temporary foreign worker program.

Over the next two years, the number of permanent residence permits will be reduced by around 20 percent to 365,000 in 2027.

In the video, Trudeau talks about the need to increase immigration after pandemic shutdowns ended to boost the labor market, saying the move helped avoid a full-blown recession.

But after that, Trudeau says some “bad actors” took advantage of those programs.

“Some saw it as a profit, to game the system. We saw far too many big companies doing this,” Trudeau said.

SEE | Trudeau on bad actors and why Canada is changing its immigration system:

The prime minister adds that “too many” colleges and universities used international student programs to “raise their bottom line” since non-Canadian students pay significantly higher tuition. He also said scammers were targeting “vulnerable immigrants” with false paths to citizenship.

“Looking back, when the post-pandemic boom cooled and businesses no longer needed the extra labor assistance, we as a federal team could have acted faster and turned off the faucets sooner,” Trudeau said.

From there, Trudeau talks about the new immigration plan with the stated goal of lowering the amount of permanent and temporary immigrants coming to Canada.

In addition to a gradual reduction in new permanent residents over the next two years, recent changes have made it more difficult for employers to get temporary work permits approved.

Video recorded before the US election

Trudeau says the goal of the government’s immigration reduction is to help stabilize population growth while housing stocks catch up, then consider gradually increasing immigration rates again.

When Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre’s spokesman Sebastian Skamski was reached for comment, The Canadian Press referred to an interview Poilievre did with CKNW 980’s. Jas Johal Show in Vancouver, where Poilievre discussed immigration.

In that interview, Poilievre said much of his criticism of the current immigration system comes from what Trudeau himself has said since enacting these recent changes.

“Now he’s basically condemning his entire immigration policy and expecting us to believe he can fix the problems he caused,” Poilievre said.

“The bottom line is we need to fix our immigration, get back to the best system in the world, the one that brought my wife here as a refugee legally and legally, the one that brought so many people here to pursue the Canadian promise, and that is what I want to do as prime minister.”

Poilievre has previously said he would tie immigration rates to vacant housing while considering other factors such as access to health care and jobs.

An official from the prime minister’s office said of the background that the video is being released as another means of communicating government policy to Canadians.

As for concerns about the potential for increased irregular migration given US President-elect Donald Trump’s deportation pledges, the official said the video was filmed before the US election.