Ottawa, ON – The Hon. Michelle Rempel Garner, Conservative Shadow Minister for Immigration, released a statement today in response to the Government of Canada’s proposal to expand Express Entry immigration pathways for skilled workers.
Rempel Garner stated that the federal government has a responsibility to prioritize Canadian youth, emphasizing that all efforts should be directed toward providing jobs and training opportunities for unemployed young Canadians. She criticized the Liberal government’s approach, saying it is focused on expanding immigration streams that could push young Canadians further away from employment opportunities that would set them on a path to success.
She also expressed concern that the Liberals have not proposed a plan to ensure that approximately three million non-citizen temporary residents, whose permits are set to expire by the end of 2026, will leave Canada once their visas expire.
According to Rempel Garner, what she described as a decade-long misuse of a once well-functioning immigration system is already placing pressure on Canada’s healthcare system and housing market, while affecting job opportunities for Canadians without offering a long-term solution.
She added that Conservatives are renewing calls on the government to prioritize hiring Canadians by abolishing the Temporary Foreign Worker Program, while creating a designated agricultural stream for legitimately hard-to-fill seasonal roles in agriculture, agri-food, and seafood sectors. The party is also urging the government to produce a plan to ensure that foreign workers with expired or expiring visas leave Canada when required.
In addition, the statement calls for the introduction of labour mobility and skills-retraining strategies, along with incentives to encourage Canadians from high-unemployment areas to relocate to underserved rural, remote, and tourism-based communities. It also recommends reducing barriers and costs for employers in these regions to attract, train, and retain unemployed or underemployed Canadians, and integrating the potential impacts of artificial intelligence on Canada’s labour force into immigration planning.
Rempel Garner noted that as of January this year, non-permanent residents outnumbered unemployed Canadians. She stressed that the government has a duty to prioritize Canadian youth and ensure they are well-positioned to obtain good-paying jobs and build a strong future within Canada. Conservatives are calling on the Liberals to focus on supporting Canadians—particularly young people—who are ready to enter the workforce and contribute to society.
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