Canada's immigration reduction announcement not a 'freeze'

Canada actually announced a reduction in the number of immigrants allowed into Canada over the next few years.

A claim circulating on social media, particularly in a post by Students for Trump founder Ryan Fournier, falsely states that Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has announced a three-year freeze on immigration to Canada. The post, which reads “BREAKING: Justin Trudeau just announced a 3-year freeze on accepting immigrants into Canada,” was widely shared across platforms, garnering over 9,000 reposts on X (formerly Twitter) in two weeks.

However, this assertion has been debunked. In fact, Trudeau did not announce a complete freeze on immigration, but rather a reduction in the number of immigrants allowed into Canada over the next few years. While the post presents the claim as breaking news, it appears to be a misinterpretation of an earlier statement made by Trudeau on October 24, when he confirmed plans to reduce immigration levels in response to rapid population growth.

“This is temporary – to pause our population growth and let our economy catch up,” Trudeau wrote in an X post, explaining that the new measures were designed to allow the Canadian economy time to stabilise. He did not describe the policy as a "freeze," nor did he suggest that immigration would stop entirely.

The government has revised its targets for permanent residents, reducing the number from an initially planned 500,000 to 395,000 in 2025 and 380,000 in 2026, according to Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada. Additionally, Canada aims to cut the number of temporary residents to 5% of the population by 2026 and set a target of 365,000 permanent residents by 2027.

Trudeau has explained that these measures are part of addressing the exploitation of Canada's immigration system by "bad actors like fake colleges and big chain corporations" during the post-pandemic economic boom.

Despite the controversy surrounding his immigration policy, Trudeau has dismissed calls from some members of his own party to step down ahead of the next federal election, amid growing discontent over the cost of living and his handling of immigration.

In a related incident, U.S. President-elect Donald Trump echoed the claim on Truth Social, stating, "Even Justin Trudeau wants to close Canada’s borders."