One of the most pro-immigration countries in the world has turned sour on welcoming more newcomers. A recent poll conducted on Canadians’ attitudes towards immigration shows that 65% of the population believes the Liberal government’s current immigration targets are too high. Ever since coming to power in 2015, Justin Trudeau has opened the floodgates of new migrants pouring into Canada, with 500,000 permanent residents expected in 2025. Polling shows that 78% of respondents believe high immigration levels are contributing to the national housing shortage, while 76% said they are having an impact on healthcare.

Canada has long been seen as a case study for how to welcome and integrate immigrants from all walks of life into a multicultural utopia. Developing an enviable points-based system that accepted only the best and vetted out anyone who would not contribute towards the shared vision of building a nation together, Canadians had for decades overwhelmingly supported inviting newcomers into the country. They believed that the Government was doing its job and making sure everyone who came in did so legally and through the right channels. Those feelings are now a thing of the past, as Trudeau’s out-of-control policies have destroyed the Canadian consensus on immigration.

Sensing the mood across the country, and how unhappy Canadians have been about long wait times in hospitals, rising rates of crime, and a housing crisis that shows no signs of abating, the Liberals have been on a mission this year to rein in the number of temporary foreign workers in the country. Last year, this group made up 6.2% of Canada’s population — up to 2.5 million people.

An explosion in the number of international students from India has also contributed to falling support for issuing new visas. Many of these recent arrivals tend to work 40 hours or more per week while on study permits, requiring lower wages and driving up competition. This has led to a stark rise in youth unemployment numbers across the country.

Crime has also been a factor, with international students from India found to be involved in the murder of Sikh leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar last year. In July this year, authorities apprehended a man and his son mere hours before they were about to carry out an Isis-inspired terrorist attack in Toronto. After their arrest, it came to light that the man had immigrated to Canada in 2018 and became a citizen this May after applying for asylum in 2021. Prior to coming to Canada, he had appeared in an Isis video in 2015, and had his application screened twice before being granted citizenship.

News of such high levels of incompetence and lax security around Canada’s immigration system has led to an erosion of trust in the institution, and it’s going to be very hard for the Liberals to win it back. Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre, currently the favourite to win the next Canadian election, says the country needs to slow its soaring population to alleviate its housing problem.

Putting a cap on the number of international students coming into the country, or ending exemptions that allow visitors to apply for work permits from within Canada, won’t reverse the trend of Canadians wanting to shut out people from arriving to exploit the system. Nor will it save Trudeau from being annihilated in the polls come election season next year. A seismic shift in policy is required, and it’s clear that a change in leadership is necessary for that to be achieved.

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Hina Husain is a Pakistani-Canadian freelance writer based in Toronto.

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