The Canadian government is turning away more and more visitors and temporary residents as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Liberal government faces pressure from voters to stem the flow of immigrants into the country.
According to a Reuters report, Canada turned away an average of more than 3,700 people per month in 2024, sometimes rejecting more visitor visa applications per month than it accepted.
The “surge” in rejections, as Reuters called it, comes at a time when Trudeau’s party is trailing in the polls ahead of a likely election next year. Many voters blame the country’s typically liberal immigration laws for the housing shortage and high prices.
Canada seeks immigration restrictions despite strained relations with the US
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau speaks during a press conference at the College of Carpenters and Allied Trades Training Centre in Woodbridge, Ontario on April 12. (Arlyn McAdorey/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
The report comes after Trudeau also faced increasing pressure and a strained relationship with the U.S. over his liberal immigration policies, with U.S. lawmakers urging Canada to stem the flow of migrant workers across the border.
“US lawmakers are calling for Canada’s northern border to be secured because they fear illegal immigration from Canada,” Glenn Cowan, founder and chief executive of security firm One9, said in a Financial Times report last week. “Curbing the flow of these visas will strengthen relations with the US.”
Trudeau has boasted in the past about Canada’s willingness to accept migrants and has not shied away from criticizing U.S. border policy. For example, in 2018 he accused the U.S. of separating migrant families at the border, arguing, “What is going on in the United States is wrong.”
“I can’t imagine what the families going through this are going through. This is obviously not the way we do things in Canada,” Trudeau said during a press conference.
The Ambassador Bridge spans the Detroit River, connecting Windsor, Ontario, with Detroit on April 10, 2020. (Tara Walton for The Washington Post via Getty Images)
Expert: Crisis at the southern border has contributed to a massive increase in border crossings, including from Canada
In the face of new pressure from home and abroad, Trudeau announced last week that he would “keep an eye on the various (migration) flows to ensure that Canada remains a country that positively supports immigration, but also responsibly integrates and paves paths to success.”
According to the Reuters report, a crackdown was already underway behind the scenes: In July, Canada turned away 5,853 foreign travelers, including workers and tourists. These are the highest number of rejections since at least January 2019.
Additionally, border officials have turned away an average of 3,727 foreign travelers per month so far in 2024, a 20% increase from the 2023 average of 633, while the country’s immigration agency has seen an increase in the number of visas rejected versus accepted in recent months.
A Canadian Customs and Fisheries officer monitors the U.S.-Canadian border between Blaine, Washington and White Rock, British Columbia on November 8, 2001 in White Rock, British Columbia. (Photo by Jeff Vinnick/Getty Images)
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Meanwhile, Canadian Immigration Minister Marc Miller announced in August that the number of approved study and work permits, which have been at the center of controversy in Canada, had also declined compared to the peaks seen in 2022 and 2023.
“Canadians want a system that doesn’t get out of control,” Miller said, according to the report.
Trudeau’s office did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
Get the latest updates on the ongoing border crisis from Fox News’ Digital Immigration Hub.
