Federal Housing Minister Sean Fraser and his colleague, Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, Marc Miller, said yesterday that the government is working to stabilize the number of people entering the country annually amid increasing housing pressures.

On Thursday, the Canadian Press reported on internal documents from 2022 showing that senior officials at the Immigration Department warned their deputy minister that a significant increase in newcomers could pressure access to housing and services.

It is noted that the Liberal government of Justin Trudeau decided in the latest immigration plan to increase the number of permanent residents welcomed by Canada each year to 500,000 in 2025, nearly double the number in 2015.

In a joint statement issued yesterday, the two Liberal ministers defended the decision to enhance immigration levels, arguing that immigration supported Canada's recovery during the economic rebound phase after the COVID-19 pandemic.

“If we had not increased immigration after the pandemic, the economy would have contracted, businesses facing severe labor shortages would have closed their doors, and social services needed by Canadians, including healthcare, would have experienced additional delays or become harder to access,” said Ministers Miller and Fraser in their joint statement yesterday.

However, the two federal ministers of Immigration and Housing also said that housing pressures have pushed the government to adjust its targets for the number of immigrants as well as the number of temporary residents Canada receives.

It is noted in this regard that Minister Miller announced about two and a half months ago the stabilization of the number of permanent residents coming to Canada at 500,000 in 2026, the same number as for 2025.

Miller also made amendments to the international student program to address problems related to fraud they fall victim to and challenges of living costs.

The two Liberal ministers say the federal government is ready to take further measures if post-secondary educational institutions do not ensure that the housing needs of international students will be met.

“We expect educational institutions to only accept the number of students they can accommodate or help find housing off-campus,” the two ministers added in their statement.

“We are prepared to take necessary measures, including significantly limiting the number of visas, to ensure that the concerned educational institutions provide appropriate and sufficient services for students as part of the academic experience,” confirmed Ministers Miller and Fraser.