Diab says immigration plan about predictability, doing the ‘right thing’

OTTAWA — Immigration Minister Lena Diab says the new immigration levels plan is meant to maintain predictability in the system while doing the “right thing” by clearing a severely backlogged humanitarian permanent residency stream.

The levels plan, published Thursday, includes targets for 380,000 permanent residents and 370,000 new temporary residents, along with a pledge to make upwards of 200,000 longtime temporary residents permanent by the end of 2027.

Diab says the vast majority of those 200,000 are in Canada already — people with jobs and housing who aren’t expected to add to the strains on health care and social services.

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre released a video Sunday accusing the government of introducing a plan that will bring in more people, drive down wages and increase rents.