More than two million foreign nationals will be living in Canada on temporary permits this year despite federal efforts to scale back admissions, according to internal records obtained through Access To Information.Blacklock's Reporter says the figures show temporary residents — including foreign workers, and asylum seekers — are expected to reach 2,069,477 in 2026. While down from a peak of 2,961,000 in 2024, the total remains historically high and comes on top of roughly 380,000 permanent residents admitted under this year’s immigration quota.An internal memorandum prepared for Prime Minister Mark Carney outlines the scope of the temporary population, noting it includes not only new arrivals but also those already in the country under special measures, such as Ukrainians issued work or study permits, along with refugee claimants.Carney moved to cut immigration levels after acknowledging during the 2025 election campaign that the system had become unsustainable.“The system isn’t working,” Carney said at the time, pointing to rapid population growth driven largely by immigration.“Our population has gone up at about 3% per year because of immigration,” he said. “That’s why we need to have a cap for a certain period of time.”Carney signalled the reductions would remain in place for at least a couple of years, arguing the country needs time to expand housing and infrastructure capacity before taking in more newcomers..“We will maintain the cap on immigration for certainly a couple of years so that we can increase our capacity to welcome newcomers,” he said, while cautioning that “there are limits” to how many people Canada can accept.“We have to be human but we have to be realistic. Canada cannot accept everyone,” he added.At the same time, federal polling suggests growing public concern over immigration levels. A Department of Immigration survey found 63% of Canadians believe immigration is placing too much pressure on public services.The same report showed 66% think newcomers need to do more to integrate, while 59% said the country should prioritize helping unemployed Canadians over recruiting skilled immigrants from abroad.Nearly half of respondents, 48%, said immigration is changing Canada in ways they do not like. Regional results showed higher concern in Ontario at 53% and Alberta at 52%, followed by Manitoba at 50% and Nova Scotia at 47%. Lower levels were reported in British Columbia, Québec and New Brunswick at 43%, Newfoundland and Labrador at 37%, and Prince Edward Island at 25%.
