A federal briefing memo is contradicting years of government messaging, acknowledging that immigration policies allowing foreign students expanded access to jobs — at the expense of Canadian youth employment.Blacklock's Reporter says the internal document from Employment and Social Development Canada cites an 18% unemployment rate among Canadian students and attributes worsening job prospects in part to a surge in non-permanent residents, including international students.“The labour market for youth has been deteriorating,” the memo states, pointing to declining employment rates and a steady rise in joblessness among Canadians aged 15 to 24 since early 2023.The findings directly challenge earlier claims by former immigration ministers Sean Fraser and Marc Miller, who had argued that loosening work restrictions for foreign students would help fill labour shortages without harming domestic workers.In November 2022, Fraser suspended limits under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act that had capped international students at 20 hours of work per week. The move effectively gave more than one million foreign students unrestricted access to the labour market in 2023..At the time, Fraser said the change was “good for our economy” and necessary to address unfilled jobs. Miller later defended the policy, saying international students were not displacing Canadian workers and describing the measure as popular.However, the federal memo paints a different picture. It notes that youth unemployment has climbed sharply, with returning students facing a 17.9% jobless rate in 2025 — significantly higher than the 11.6% rate for non-students and among the worst levels since 2009 outside of pandemic years.Officials linked the trend in part to rapid population growth among young people driven by non-permanent residents. The memo states that this group grew by 42% between 2022 and 2025, far outpacing job creation and intensifying competition for entry-level work.“Tougher labour market conditions have created widespread difficulties for youth,” the report said, adding that the increase in available workers has made it harder for Canadian students to find employment..Cabinet partially reversed course in 2024 by reinstating a 24-hour weekly cap on foreign student work during winter months, though critics say the change does little to address broader labour market pressures.The memo also raises questions about how the policy was justified, noting the government relied in part on a 2023 survey that consulted only foreign students, not Canadian workers affected by the changes.The acknowledgement marks the first time federal officials have formally linked immigration-driven labour supply to declining job prospects for Canadian youth, a shift that could intensify scrutiny of Ottawa’s broader immigration and employment policies.
