Ottawa is right to stem the flow of newcomers but it should be more transparent about its plans for different categories of migrants

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After years of high permanent immigration and runaway growth in non-permanent newcomers — a surge that strained housing, health care and confidence in the immigration system — the federal government is trimming its target for permanent admission to 380,000 annually, increasing the share that are economic migrants and sharply reducing temporary inflows. That’s all sensible, but a closer look raises several concerns.

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The annual headline target of 380,000 new permanent residents (PRs) is misleading. It doesn’t count new “one-time initiatives” over the next two years to give permanent residency to another 115,000 protected persons and 33,000 temporary workers already living in Canada. It’s a reclassification that gives twice. Subtracting them from the stock of non-permanent residents (NPRs) helps Ottawa meet its target of reducing the NPR share of the population to below five per cent by 2027. And not adding them to the target for PRs makes it look like the admission of new permanent immigrants over the next two years is more moderate than it actually is. But there’s an obvious transparency gap. It’s as if they’ve disappeared — removed from one column but not added to the other.

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