Photo credit: The Canadian press
The Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney says his government has “taken back control” of immigration.
He made the remark at a press conference in Red Deer, Alta., on Wednesday, after being asked about an upcoming referendum that will ask Albertans how they want the province to deal with immigration.
They include questions about having the province assume more control over the immigration system and whether there should be a law requiring proof of citizenship in order to vote in a provincial election.
The Alberta government will also ask citizens if they would support restricting access to provincially funded services like healthcare and education to citizens, permanent residents and those with “Alberta-approved” immigration status. There are two spinoff questions associated with this referendum item.
Carney told reporters that immigration was “far too high” when his government took over, and Canada had “lost control” of its intake of foreign students and temporary workers.
The prime minister said the flow of asylum seekers entering Canada is down by a third, while the influx of foreign temporary workers and foreign students are down respectively by one-half and two-thirds.
Data from the immigration department says about 19,000 study permit holders arrived in Canada between January and May. Almost 78,000 temporary workers arrived over the same time period.
More than 115,000 international students and nearly 209,000 temporary workers came to Canada in 2025, according to the immigration department.
Carney said Canada is “on top of the numbers” and the federal government and premiers now have an opportunity to discuss next steps.
The prime minister said that he and the premiers discussed prioritizing certain skills for economic immigrants during their recent meeting on Prince Edward Island.
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith said her province has about 6,400 spots open this year in the provincial nominee program for permanent residency.
“I think we’ve got 40,000 people who have sought permanent residency from os, and so that’s why I think we need a bit of a better balance,” Smith said.
