OTTAWA — Conservative immigration critic Michelle Rempel Garner accused Prime Minister Mark Carney on Friday of concealing plans that could allow as many as 654,000 people to obtain permanent residency in Canada next year, well above the government's official target of 380,000.In a statement released a day after the Liberals tabled their 2026 federal budget, Rempel Garner said the government's immigration plan contains additional measures that could push admissions beyond the previous record of roughly 484,000 set in 2024."Mark Carney just announced the highest level of permanent immigration in Canadian history, and tried to hide it," she said."The headline target in yesterday's Immigration Levels Plan is 380,000 new permanent residents in 2027."Rempel Garner said separate government documents contain provisions that could add another 274,000 permanent residents, bringing the potential total to 654,000."That means Mark Carney has increased permanent immigration to its highest levels ever, about 35% higher than the previous all-time record set in 2024," she said.The government's published immigration levels plan maintains annual permanent resident targets of 380,000 between 2027 and 2029, alongside 370,000 new temporary resident arrivals each year..The budget also includes a separate initiative to transition up to 200,000 temporary residents already living in Canada to permanent residency by the end of 2027. The government describes it as a one-time measure, rather than an increase to its regular annual targets.Rempel Garner argues that these measures should be counted alongside the headline figures. Her projected total of 654,000 remains a Conservative calculation, rather than an official government admissions target..The Conservative MP also questioned why the government released its immigration plan as part of the federal budget rather than as a separate announcement."The Levels Plan itself was buried into the federal budget in order to make sure it received limited scrutiny," she said.She pointed to a Nanos Research survey commissioned by CTV News earlier this week that found 52.3% of Canadians wanted fewer immigrants and temporary residents admitted in 2027.Rempel Garner argued that the proposed immigration levels would put further pressure on housing, wages and public services."When corporations don't have to compete for workers, they don't have to pay them more, and that means more money for shareholders and less for workers," she said.She cited a Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation forecast of 223,000 housing starts in 2027, arguing that population growth would continue to outpace the country's ability to build homes.The Conservative critic also pointed to rising food bank demand, noting that newcomers now account for 31% of clients, according to figures cited in her statement.She said the government was failing to consider the consequences for immigrants themselves, particularly those struggling to find affordable housing and employment.The statement followed remarks by Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre in Brampton on Friday, where he accused Carney of understating the government's immigration plans."We love immigration for people in numbers that we can absorb, where there are jobs, healthcare and housing, but not when the numbers exceed our capacity to absorb people," Poilievre said."It is not fair to immigrants, it is not fair to people already here."Rempel Garner called on the government to lower its targets, arguing that immigration should be tied more closely to Canada's housing supply, labour market and health care capacity."Conservatives will keep fighting to bring these numbers down, so that wages can rise, rents can fall, and our hospitals can recover," she said.
