Trudeau: Canada to Reduce Number of ‘Temporary Foreign Workers’

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced that Canada would be “reducing the number” of “temporary foreign workers” in the country.

In a post on X, Trudeau wrote that businesses in Canada should be investing in hiring “Canadian workers and youth.”

Trudeau’s words come as Conservative Party leader Pierre Poilievre has vowed to make cuts to Trudeau’s migration flood, implying that immigration numbers would be linked to the rate of homes being built and the jobs that are created.

“We’re reducing the number of low-wage, temporary foreign workers in Canada,” Trudeau wrote. “The labour market has changed. Now is the time for our businesses to invest in Canadian workers and youth.”

During a press conference on Monday, Trudeau explained that Canada’s Temporary Foreign Worker program would be receiving an overhaul, according to BBC News.

Trudeau explained that not only is it “not fair to Canadians” who are having difficulties finding employment, but to some foreign workers who are being “mistreated and exploited.”

“It’s not fair to Canadians struggling to find a good job, and it’s not fair to those temporary foreign workers, some of whom are being mistreated and exploited,” Trudeau explained.

This comes as Canada saw the unemployment rate rise 0.2 percent to 6.4 in June, according to Statistics Canada.

Trudeau has previously acknowledged that young Canadians would be denied housing wealth due to the country’s housing market being impacted by an influx of foreign workers.

In April, Trudeau revealed that he had plans to reduce the number of migrant workers coming into the country and noted that “more and more businesses” in Canada were “relying on temporary foreign workers in a way that is driving down wages in some sectors.”

Canada was reported to have reached a population mark of 40 million in June 2023, and in March 2024, it was reported to have reached the 41 million mark.

Statistics Canada attributed the increase in Canada’s population to “international migration” during the first quarter of 2024.

The United States has similarly been grappling with low wages and increased housing prices due to an increasing number of illegal migrants. Under the Biden administration, roughly ten million migrants have been encountered at the U.S. southern border.