Canada sees its first drop in foreign labor and students in years

For the first time in several years, Canada has seen a decline in the number of foreign workers and international students. New figures show that between 2024 and 2025, the country recorded 14,954 fewer people holding work or study permits. This change follows tighter immigration rules that now shape who can come, stay, or renew their temporary status.

This drop marks a sharp change from recent years. From 2023 to 2024, Canada added more than 780,000 temporary residents. That rapid growth ended as new limits came into force and slowed arrivals across the country.

Big Cities Feel the Biggest Impact

Canada’s largest urban areas recorded the sharpest declines. Major population centres lost more than 20,000 temporary residents overall. Ontario, British Columbia, and Manitoba saw the biggest drops, while Quebec and Alberta added new residents and helped balance national totals.

Toronto alone lost nearly 45,000 temporary residents. That single decline exceeded three times the national net drop, showing how much movement shifted toward other regions. Vancouver also posted a significant decrease, along with several mid-sized Ontario cities and Winnipeg.

Smaller population centres told a different story. These areas gained more than 3,500 temporary residents during the same period, as many newcomers chose cities with lower costs and better access to housing and jobs.

Quebec and Alberta Gain Ground

While many regions lost residents, several cities saw clear gains. Montréal led the country with an increase of more than 17,000 temporary residents. Calgary and Edmonton followed with strong growth, each adding thousands of new residents.

Other cities across Ontario, Saskatchewan, and Alberta also reported modest increases. These gains show that temporary residents still arrive in Canada, but they now choose different destinations than in the past.

The figures come from data tracked by Statistics Canada, which measures the total number of people already living in Canada on temporary permits. These numbers differ from arrival data, which started to fall earlier.

Rules Tighten for Workers and Students

The federal government introduced several changes between 2024 and 2025 that reshaped temporary immigration. Authorities limited access to low-wage foreign worker permits in regions with higher unemployment. They shortened work permit lengths and raised wage requirements for some jobs.

Officials also narrowed access to spousal work permits and added new rules for post-graduation work permits, including language and study field requirements. Graduates from certain college programs lost eligibility altogether.

The government also ended pandemic-era measures, banned same-day permit processing at borders, and set firm caps on study permits for 2025. Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada now enforces these limits nationwide.

More People Leave Canada

Alongside these changes, more than 120,000 people left Canada between 2024 and 2025. Many departures came from large cities, adding to the overall decline in temporary residents.

Experts expect current residents to feel the full impact later, as many still hold valid permits and face new rules only when they apply to renew.