Immigration Minister Marc Miller said that he expects the nearly 5 million people living in Canada with visas poised to expire by the end of next year to leave the country voluntarily.
“There are many ways that people leave the country,” Miller told the House of Commons immigration committee on Tuesday. “The vast majority leave voluntarily. That is what is expected.”
According to documents tabled in Parliament by the Department of Immigration, 4.9 million visas are going to expire between September 2024 and December 2025.
Conservative MP Tom Kmiec pressed Miller on the matter, asking? “How will we know how many of those actually wind up leaving?”
Miller responded by saying that the government would “monitor that carefully.”
“There are many measures within our department to monitor these things,” he said, including tasking “the Canada Border Services Agency to investigate and prosecute those who violate immigration laws.”
Kmiec followed up by asking how many foreign students would leave voluntarily, considering they account for 766,000 of the visas slated to expire.
“Are you saying 100% are expected to leave or are you going to send the Canada Border Services Agency to chase all 766,000?” asked Kmiec.
Miller said that he would not be doing that, adding that “some people actually get renewals. Some people get postgraduate work permits.”
The Department of Immigration tallied a total of 1,073,435 foreign students in Canada as of last May.
“There are an increasing number of students making asylum claims, I think with very little hope,” said Miller. “Whether you like it or not they are entitled to due process in this country. I don’t think you would purport to deny it to them.”
In addition to international students, the department estimated as many as half a million undocumented foreigners are currently residing illegally in Canada, according to an April briefing note.
“(Trudeau’s) own published documents show there are 4.9 million people here temporarily that are supposed to leave by Dec. 31 of next year, ” Conservative Party Leader Pierre Poilievre told reporters in Ottawa.
“We asked what the plan was to track their departure and (on Monday Trudeau’s) immigration minister said ‘We’re just going to take people at their word.’ He admits two ISIS terrorists allowed into our country. What is the plan to protect our security and reinstate sovereignty over who is in our country?”
Miller announced that Canada would scale back immigration levels to 365,000 people a year by 2027 in response to a growing sentiment that the Trudeau government has let in far more people than Canada can handle.
“These changes will make immigration work for our country so that everyone has access to the quality jobs, homes and supports they need to thrive. We have listened to Canadians, and we will continue to protect the integrity of our system and grow our population responsibly,” said Miller in a statement last month.
“Today’s announcement is the next step in our plan to address the evolving immigration needs of our country. While it’s clear our economy needs newcomers, we see the pressures facing our country, and we must adapt our policies accordingly.”
The 2025–2027 Immigration Levels Plan projects Canada’s population to decline by 0.2% over the next two years before returning to a population growth of 0.8% in 2027.
The number of permanent residents will be reduced from 500,000 to 395,000 next year and then to 380,000 in 2026, before reaching a target of 365,000 in 2027.