In a marked policy shift, Canada will make a significant cut to the number of immigrants it allows into the country in the coming years. The policy reform was announced on Thursday by Prime Minister Trudeau, who acknowledged that his government’s previous immigration targets had missed the mark.  

“We are acting today, because in the tumultuous times as we emerged from the pandemic, between addressing labor needs and maintaining population growth, we didn’t get the balance quite right,” Mr. Trudeau said during a press conference in Ottawa. 

The annual permanent resident target for this year comes out to 485,000 — a significant jump from the 272,000 that was in place when Mr. Trudeau took office in 2015. 

Under the new plan, Canada will reduce the number of permanent residents it brings into the country in 2025 to 395,000 — a 21 percent drop from the previous target of 500,000. The annual targets will decrease marginally each year before getting down to 365,000 in 2027. The country will also reduce its quota for temporary residents. 

The reform is meant to “stabilize our population growth to give all levels of government time to catch up, time to make the necessary investments in health care, in housing, in social services to accommodate more people in the future,” Mr. Trudeau said. 

Canada, after the coronavirus pandemic subsided, allowed in nearly three million migrants in three years — pushing the population up to 41 million from 38 million. About 97 of the country’s population growth last year was driven by immigration, according to federal data. 

While the migrant inflow helped to strengthen Canada’s economy by providing much-needed laborers post-Covid, the rapid population expansion put pressure on the country’s health care services and housing. The country is also struggling with rising unemployment, particularly among young people. 

These issues have led Canadian citizens — who are historically known to have friendly attitudes toward migrants — to become increasingly concerned with the migrant inflow. 

A survey published last month from the Environics Institute found that 58 percent of Canadians agreed that the country was taking in too many immigrants — a 14 percentage point increase from just a year prior. 

“For the first time in a quarter century, a clear majority of Canadians say there is too much immigration,” the survey concluded.