‘Not the right time’: B.C.’s business community reacts to new immigration targets in Canada

Reactions are pouring in in B.C. to the announcement that Canada will reduce the number of new permanent residents in the country by 21 per cent next year.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Immigration Minister Marc Miller announced the initiative Thursday, which is part of a major series of changes to immigration targets that Trudeau says are aimed at freezing population growth.

Jasroop Gosal, interim spokesperson for the Surrey Board of Trade and policy and research manager, said he was disappointed that this change had taken place.

“Last year we, our business community, were given numbers of 500,000 for the next few years and companies were preparing for that possibility,” he told Global News.

“And now that a year later, less than a year later, the government is coming to change its immigration policy, it’s really disrupting their ability to plan for growth and stability.”

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Gosal said immigrants are coming to Canada and B.C. because they see a need to fill jobs and support industries.

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“Companies have been telling us for years that there is a labor shortage,” he says.

“There is a disconnect between the skills available in our current labor market and the skills they need in the jobs that are open and can be filled through immigration. And we believe that this is not the right time. It is not the right way to make this kind of extraordinary change.”

Migrant rights groups have said the move makes immigrants “scapegoats.”

“The government’s decision to reduce the number of permanent residents is a shameful capitulation to rising anti-immigrant sentiment in a desperate bid to regain political favor. These changes will force migrants into temporary or undocumented status, where they will be vulnerable to even greater exploitation and abuse,” said Syed Hussan, spokesperson for the Migrant Rights Network.

Hussan said reducing the number of permanent residents would provide fewer opportunities for vulnerable migrants to settle.

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Gosal said this change signals to the rest of the world that Canada doesn’t have the right policies in place, which could deter foreign investors looking to come to B.C.

“We need to make sure that we reskill and upskill the workforce and make sure that we create a system and a tax environment and regulatory environment that allows these manufacturers, these job creators, to stay in Canada, to stay in B.C., and stay specifically in Surrey,” he added.

— with files from Uday Rana

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