Immigration increase could be on the horizon, Carney suggests in interview

Prime Minister Mark Carney says with Canada’s immigration system back under control, the question now is about when to begin a “controlled increase” of the country’s population.

Carney made the remark in a recent interview with the New York Times, just over a month before the government is required by law to release its immigration levels plan for the next three years.

The last three federal immigration plans focused on reducing the number of people coming to the country after a rapid post-pandemic population spike.

The government also started setting targets for annual temporary arrivals to reduce the number of short-term workers and students to five per cent of the population after they cracked seven per cent in October 2024.

The C.D. Howe Institute’s immigration targets council recommends the government continue to shrink the number of arrivals over the next three years.

That council includes several top academics who study immigration policy, a former deputy minister and former Alberta premier Jason Kenney.