Cutback on immigration targets will have ‘notable impacts’ on workforce in Brampton, councillor says

Canada is scaling back the number of immigrants and temporary workers coming into the country – a plan that could have ripple effects on businesses and their workforce in Brampton, according to one city councillor.

The federal government has slashed immigration targets down from an expected 500,000 per year to 395,000 in 2025 and 380,000 in 2026.

And with efforts underway to also reduce the number of temporary residents in Canada to around 5 per cent of the population by the end of next year, Brampton City Coun. Gurpartap Singh Toor says local businesses could feel the ripple effects.

“I think it’s very important to have this roundtable discussion regarding immigration changes and the impact it has on local businesses, especially with the labour market,” Toor said in Brampton City Council chambers on Wednesday.

The feds say cutting back on temporary workers will reduce immigration levels and pause population growth in the short term.

Toor put forward a motion that says the changes “will have notable impacts on the labour market in Brampton,” and has called for the city’s Economic Development Office and the Brampton Board of Trade host an industry roundtable with businesses and government officials to “identify the specific immigration challenges faced by Brampton businesses” and work on solutions.

Findings from the session will go to a report to council early next year.

A Bloomberg report found that Canada was home to 2.7 million temporary residents as of March of this year, and Statistics Canada data from 2021 shows there were 47,465 “temporary position” workers in Brampton.

Some 50,095 immigrants arrived in Brampton between 2016 and 2021, with India the most common place of birth. In 2021, more than 52 per cent of the city’s population were born outside of Canada making for the third-largest immigrant population in Ontario and the fifth-largest in all of Canada.

Protests have been held recently in Brampton on Saturday international students from India and the Naujawan Support Network demanding extensions for all post-graduation work permit holders set to expire in 2024-2025.

Organizers have said some 70,000 international students have work permits that are set to expire – workers who they claim have been used as “cheap labour” by Ottawa.

Activists also say a backlog in PR requests dating back to the pandemic means PGWP holders are being shut out of a pathway to residency and could be sent home.

Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly said last week that Canada will stand firm on its plan to rein in the number of newcomers entering the country, despite concerns that Donald Trump’s re-election could spur an influx of migrants from the United States.

– With files from The Canadian Press