Conservative leaders are blasting federal immigration numbers, saying they show Canada’s system is “out of control” under Finance Minister Mark Carney.Pierre Poilievre, leader of the Conservative Party of Canada, and Michelle Rempel Garner, shadow minister for immigration, released a statement Monday criticizing what they described as a failure to manage immigration targets, calling it a crisis for jobs, healthcare and housing.According to the statement, Canada has already exceeded its promised caps for several programs in the first half of the year. .The temporary foreign worker program was set at 82,000 but has already issued 105,000 visas, while the International Mobility Program had a cap of 285,000 and admitted 302,000 so far. Conservatives also warn permanent resident admissions are on track to exceed historical highs, “welcoming the equivalent of twice the population of Guelph and four times the population of Abbotsford.”The party pointed to rising youth unemployment — the lowest since 1998— and a 2,920% increase in the asylum backlog since 2015, with hearing wait times now exceeding four years. .They argued the current system “turns Canada’s asylum process into a waiting-room of broken promises.”Poilievre and Rempel Garner said only a Conservative government will present a plan this fall to fix what they say the Liberals and Carney have broken in Canada’s immigration system.
