Major cuts to Canada’s immigration intake will negatively impact Manitoba businesses, industry leaders fear.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced Thursday the federal government would drastically decrease the number of immigrants Canada accepts over the next three years.
It’s unclear how big of a drop Manitoba will face. Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada said individuals “have mobility rights and are free to move around.”
SEAN KILPATRICK / THE CANADIAN PRESS FILES
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced cuts to the number of immigrants Canada accepts over the next three years.
Canada is slated to receive 395,000 new permanent residents in 2025, a 21 per cent drop from the 500,000 target previously set.
In 2026, the number will decline to 380,000 and, in 2026, 365,000.
The news is disappointing, said Winnipeg Chamber of Commerce president Loren Remillard.
“Manitoba relies on international immigration to fuel our labour market and our slow but steady population growth,” he said.
He expects the province’s population to stagnate or slightly decline. It affects employers looking to develop a Manitoba workforce, he explained.
Manitoba’s unemployment rate — 5.7 per cent — is lower than the country’s average. The province counted 23,735 job vacancies this April through June.
Companies lean on permanent residents and temporary foreign workers to fill gaps in sectors from hospitality to financial services, Remillard noted.
Shaun Jeffrey, executive director of the Manitoba Restaurant and Foodservices Association, plans to pen a joint letter with peers across Western Canada, denouncing the restrictions on immigration.
“We’re all getting decimated by this,” Jeffrey said Friday.
The recent policy change follows a federal decision to cap temporary foreign worker usage at 10 per cent of a company’s workforce.
Lessening the number of temporary foreign workers places extra strain on rural and quick-service restaurants, Jeffrey highlighted.
In September, a Flin Flon Chicken Chef owner told the Free Press he’d likely have to reduce operations once the temporary foreign worker changes were implemented.
“We just can’t attract staff in these areas,” Jeffrey said.
Record levels of immigration have been blamed as a reason for Canada’s housing shortage. However, homes are available in many communities needing workers, Jeffrey noted.
Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver — metropolitan areas in an affordable housing crisis — see the most immigration throughout Canada.
“What we’re hearing and seeing from the federal government is a national program designed around the challenges of three major centres,” Remillard stated.
“We need to have a more thorough conversation as a country about changes to our immigration policy that entice, incent and really promote greater regional immigration outside of the big three.”
Remillard was echoed by Cam Dahl, general manager of Manitoba Pork. Permanent residents fill pork plants in smaller Manitoba communities.
“Places like Neepawa, Brandon, Killarney and Selkirk are not the same as Toronto and Vancouver,” Dahl said. “They shouldn’t be treated the same.”
Manitoba’s provincial nominee program has benefitted pork producers, Dahl continued. This year, Manitoba has 9,500 nominations to fill.
On Thursday, the feds showed they’d allocate 55,000 immigration spots nationally, annually, to the provincial nominee program in 2025 through 2027.
Ottawa has a goal of decreasing the number of temporary residents to five per cent of the total population over the next three years, including temporary foreign workers and international students.
It means a decline of 445,901 and 445,662 temporary residents in 2025 and 2026, respectively.
Manitoba’s trucking industry recruits hundreds of temporary and permanent workers annually. As the economy improves and more truckloads are ordered, staffing will be an issue, according to the Manitoba Trucking Association’s executive director.
Cuts won’t solve the problem of temporary foreign worker abuse, Aaron Dolyniuk added.
“We need to do a better job of screening and ensuring that we have the right employers participating in immigration,” he said.
Manitoba’s non-permanent resident population grew by 42 per cent year-over-year — by 21,279 people — as of Jan. 1, 2024. The group made up 4.85 per cent of Manitoba’s total population.
In 2023, Manitoba welcomed 24,909 immigrants and recorded a net increase of 23,250 migrants — up 48 per cent from the previous year.
Health care, education and trades employers regularly scout immigrants to fill labour gaps, noted Bisi Adebayo, outreach manager of the Manitoba-
Immigrant Employment Council: “the number of immigrants that are currently coming in are still sufficient.”
The provincial nominee program is important to growing the Manitoba economy, Immigration Minister Malaya Marcelino wrote in a statement.
“The reality in Manitoba is that we are in need of skilled labour, particularly in rural and northern areas,” she said. “We will continue to advocate for the federal government to meet Manitoba’s labour needs.”
Sixty-two per cent of Canada’s permanent resident admissions will be dedicated to the economic class by 2027, according to the Liberals.
Canada has experienced high population growth over the past several years due, in large part, to immigration. Prime Minister Trudeau campaigned on increasing immigration levels in the 2015 election.
Gabrielle Piché
Reporter
Gabrielle Piché reports on business for the Free Press. She interned at the Free Press and worked for its sister outlet, Canstar Community News, before entering the business beat in 2021. Read more about Gabrielle.
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