Trudeau pulls welcome mat for immigrants, refugees and international students

By Mata Press Service

In the winter of 2017, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau declared to the world: “To those fleeing persecution, terror & war, Canadians will welcome you, regardless of your faith. Diversity is our strength. #WelcomeToCanada.”

The tweet served as a pointed rebuke to then-U.S. President Donald Trump’s executive order banning refugees and visitors from Muslim-majority nations and other groups deemed undesirable by the White House.

By 2021, during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, Trudeau’s Immigration Minister, Marco Mendicino, echoed the government’s welcoming stance, emphasizing the contributions of international students.
“Our message to international students and graduates is simple: we don’t just want you to study here, we want you to stay here,” Mendicino said.

Fast forward to today, and the message from the Trudeau Liberals to refugees, now encrusted in a $250,000 global online advertising campaign, is markedly different:
“Claiming asylum in Canada is not easy. There are strict guidelines to qualify. Find out what you need to know before you make a life-changing decision.”

For international students, the shift is just as stark: not everyone can stay.
“The reality is that not everyone who wants to come to Canada will be able to—just like not everyone who wants to stay in Canada will be able to,” said current Immigration Minister Marc Miller, cautioning international students not to make asylum claims to remain in the country.

This evolving rhetoric reflects a dramatic pivot in Canada’s immigration policy, where restrictions and barriers increasingly replace inclusivity and opportunity.
“The Trudeau Liberals opened the doors to immigration with little foresight or planning, and now they are slamming them shut in an equally chaotic and uncoordinated manner,” said a senior immigration consultant based in Surrey, B.C.

The Conference Board of Canada agrees.
In a new report titled Shift in Immigration Policy Goes Too Far, the independent research organization states:
“Allowing Canada’s population to surge so quickly in 2023 and 2024 was a mistake, but attempting to rectify this problem with equal haste is also misguided.”
Pedro Antunes, Chief Economist at the Conference Board of Canada, added:
“While the recent surge in non-permanent residents has placed significant pressure on the economy, the government’s response may be too drastic. Given Canada’s fragile state of recovery, a steadier approach would provide a more stable path forward.”

In October 2024, the government announced a plan to reduce non-permanent residents by over 900,000 within two years—a much more aggressive target than proposed in March. This policy shift follows an unprecedented population surge in 2023 and 2024, strained housing, infrastructure, and public services.
To curb record-setting population growth triggered by immigration, the government projects that 2.4 million non-permanent residents must either leave or change their status within the next two years. During this time, Canada expects to welcome 1.5 million new temporary arrivals, resulting in a net loss of approximately 900,000 non-permanent residents—equivalent to about 2% of the country’s population.

The Naujawan Support Network, an organization for immigrant workers and international students, estimates that over 200,000 recent graduates across Canada whose post-graduate work permits (PGWPs) are expiring in 2025 are at risk of deportation.

While this rapid reduction is unlikely to trigger a recession, it is expected to significantly dampen Canada’s growth, lowering real GDP by $7.9 billion in 2025 and $16.2 billion in 2026, according to the Conference Board of Canada.
As Canada’s population shrinks, both employment and unemployment will decline. However, the contraction of labour supply is expected to outpace the demand reduction, resulting in a tighter labour market and increased pressure on employers to fill positions, Antunes said.

The government’s hasty course correction introduces new challenges, potentially straining employers, exacerbating labour shortages, and impacting near-term economic performance.

Another report last week by the charity group Imagine Canada reveals that nearly one in four multicultural Canadians who previously immigrated to Canada expressed regret about their decision, and one in five are considering leaving. Additionally, about a third say they discourage family and friends from immigrating to Canada, citing increased acts of racism and a sense of not belonging.

At the same time, Canada is grappling with a backlog of 260,000 refugee cases amid rising global displacement.
According to OMNI News, the government is launching a $250,000 global online advertising campaign to caution potential asylum-seekers about the challenges of making a refugee claim. Running from late December 2024 to March 31, 2025, the initiative seeks to counter misinformation about the country’s immigration and asylum systems. Ads in 11 languages, including English, French, Spanish, Arabic, Turkish, and Tamil, will target individuals searching for terms like “How to claim asylum in Canada” or “refugee Canada.” The ads will direct users to sponsored content titled Canada’s Asylum System – Asylum Facts.

“It’s going to be a tough and frustrating year for tens of thousands of new immigrants, international students, and temporary foreign workers as they navigate the new rules to avoid leaving or getting deported,” said a Vancouver-based immigration lawyer.

The Century Initiative, a registered charity, argues that blaming immigration for Canada’s housing, infrastructure, and affordability crises has driven the Liberal government to make political decisions that create panic and instability.
“When a country faces large-scale social or economic change, as Canada does, we need leadership from the government and a vision based on where we are today and where we can aspire to go. Instead, we’re seeing our policymakers swing from month to month based on the opinion environment, chasing after low-hanging fruit to reduce demand for housing rather than addressing the nation-building need to plan for supply,” the group said in a recent op-ed.