U.S. and Canada flags near the northern border in Vermont on March 7, 2024. (Allan Stein/The Epoch Times)
Foreign nationals will no longer be permitted to apply for a work permit at the border, Canada’s minister of immigration has announced.
Marc Miller said that the decision to eliminate border applications for post-graduation work permits (PGWP) would reduce “flagpoling,” which is how temporary residents bypass visa wait times. These individuals have previously been able to leave the country and re-enter on the same day, applying for the permit at the border crossing.
“While we continue to support and recognize the contributions of international graduates to Canada’s labour market, ‘flagpoling’ is unnecessary,” Mr. Miller said in a June 21 statement. “The time and effort required to process applications from ‘flagpolers’ takes officers on both sides of the border away from their crucial role in protecting the safety, security and prosperity of Canadians and Americans.”
He said preventing these types of applications will maintain the integrity of Canada’s immigration system.
These applications represented about one-fifth or 20 percent of PGWP applications between March 1, 2023, and Feb. 29, 2024, according to government data.
“With this change, we’re taking a measured approach to combatting the issue and putting an even greater focus on maintaining the integrity of our shared border with the United States,” Minister of Public Safety Dominic LeBlanc said in a statement.
Immigration Increase
The update comes amid other recent announcements by the federal government targeted at more regulation of immigration.
In January, Mr. Miller said the government would be decreasing the number of study permits issued by 35 percent, to 360,000.
In 2023, over 980,000 study permits were issued to foreign students, according to recently released information.
Mr. Miller said the number of study permits to be issued in 2025 would be decided after an assessment of the situation.
Canada’s population has been the fastest growing in the G7 due to immigration, and ranks seventh in the G20, StatCan previously reported. The country’s population now sits at more than 41 million.
While Canada is seeing a substantial increase in immigration, it’s not adding numbers to citizenship, according to a StatsCan study. The number of immigrants that have gone on to become citizens has dropped by nearly 30 percent since 1996.
In 2021, 45.7 percent of recent immigrants sought residency, and Canada’s citizenship rate fell faster from 2016 to 2021 than any other five-year intercensal period since 1996.
Moreover, 15 percent of immigrants reportedly move away from Canada within 20 years of arriving, with the majority leaving between three and seven years after they land.
About 500,000 immigrants are expected to move into Canada in 2024.
It’s a number that is starting to make Canadians feel uneasy, given concerns with lack of housing and access to health-care, according to a poll from Abacus Data.
“Two in three Canadians (67 percent) believe the current immigration target is too high, increasing by 6-points increase since July,” the research authors said.
Two in five Canadians said the number of immigrants was “way too high,” while just 2 percent said it was too low.
The poll also found that less than a quarter of Canadians believe immigration is having a positive impact on the country. Forty-three percent said it was having an adverse effect.