2024: The year Justin Trudeau closed Canada's doors and began turning away foreigners

economictimes.indiatimes.com:

Canada under Prime Minister Justin Trudeau took significant steps to limit immigration in 2024. Faced with domestic challenges including an acute housing crisis and growing public dissatisfaction over strained infrastructure, the Canadian government moved to curtail immigration and foreign student intake.
These measures represented a stark departure from Canada’s historically open-door policies, sparking widespread debate both within and outside the country.

The decision to scale back immigration targets

The Trudeau government announced a major reduction in its immigration targets for permanent residents, dropping the annual goal from 500,000 to 365,000 by 2027. Immigration Minister Marc Miller emphasized the need to balance economic growth with sustainable population growth, saying, “This shows that we are listening to Canadians. It shows that we have a controlled immigration plan that we can be proud of.”

This change hoped to address mounting public concerns about the housing crisis, particularly in urban centers such as Toronto and Vancouver. With housing affordability at an all-time low, public pressure to reduce population growth from immigration became a key driver of the policy change.

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Restrictions on international student programs

In addition to cutting permanent residency targets, the government introduced a two-year cap on the issuance of international student permits. This policy sought to address the disproportionately large strain placed