Tories Criticize Immigration Department for Changing How Data Is Made Public

Conservative MP Michelle Rempel Garner is criticizing the immigration department for changing how its datasets are made public, saying it amounts to censorship.

The Conservative shadow immigration minister says the Liberal government has admitted to “purposefully censoring” immigration data published by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC).

“The Liberal government just admitted that they have purposefully withheld raw immigration data from the public, and intend on replacing it with heavily edited information that will likely be packaged with Liberal spin,” Rempel Garner said in an Aug. 11 statement.

Public health policy makers, labour force analysts, and housing developers are among those who depend on the IRCC’s immigration data and expect the data to be accurate and timely, Rempel Garner says.

In an earlier statement released on Aug. 6, she accused the Liberal government of failing to provide dataset updates on immigration since Prime Minister Mark Carney took office in March, noting that this differs from the regular IRCC data release schedule.

“How many illegal border crossings have we had?” Rempel Garner said. “How many more asylum claims have piled on to an already backlogged waitlist? How many more permits have the Liberals handed out that continue to overwhelm our housing, healthcare system and job market?”

She said Canadians have a right to know immigration numbers, and called on the government to release the data.

She also called on the government to lower immigration levels.

“Instead of censoring critical data and trying to hide the fact that the Liberals have allowed more people into the country than our housing, healthcare and job market can handle, they should be massively lowering immigration levels,” Rempel Garner said in her Aug. 11 statement.

IRCC Response

The IRCC says the reason the most recent immigration data has not yet been published is because the department is currently changing how immigration data is made public.

“While monthly data is still available upon request, we are in the process of updating how we share immigration data with Canadians and improving how information is presented online,” IRCC spokesperson Remi Lariviere told The Epoch Times.

The immigration department is seeking to provide Canadians with “clearer explanations of trends and greater context” for data about the IRCC’s programs, Lariviere said.

“As part of this work, we’re updating our web content to make the data more accessible and meaningful,” Lariviere said, adding that the department is committed to transparency, accountability, and client service.

The most recent IRCC statistics will soon be published, Lariviere said.

Housing, Unemployment

A June 20 report on a joint study conducted by the IRCC and Statistics Canada indicates that the rise in immigrants arriving in Canada has led to an increase in housing prices.

Immigration has accounted for 11 percent of housing price increases in smaller towns and 21 percent in cities of more than 100,000 people, the immigration department said. Additionally, the report indicated that new immigrants accounted for 12 percent of the increase in median rents in cities of more than 100,000 people.

A July 2024 Bank of Canada report said immigration contributed to “inflationary pressures in some sectors” and drove up house prices and rents, noting that most newcomers start out as renters.

Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp (CMHC) noted in its July 8 mid-year rental market update that the caps imposed on foreign students and new residents have led to a decrease in demand for rental housing and a drop in average asking rents across many of Canada’s largest cities over the last year, such as Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto, and Halifax.

Meanwhile, several economists have also attributed Canada’s unemployment rate to its high immigration rates in recent years, particularly among younger Canadians aged 15 to 24.

Immigration Caps

In 2024, former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government said it would reduce the number of permanent residents admitted into Canada over the following three years, and announced a cap on the number of international students allowed into the country.

Before leaving office, Trudeau pledged to cap the number of temporary residents and workers coming into Canada at 5 percent or less of the country’s population by 2027, which Carney has also agreed to.

Carney said throughout his election campaign that Canada’s immigration system wasn’t working and a cap was needed for “a certain period of time.” In a May mandate letter to his cabinet ministers, Carney said he wanted immigration rates to remain at “sustainable levels.”

Conservative Leader Pierre Poillievre has accused Carney of not taking proper action in reducing immigration numbers, saying the prime minister has so far kept the immigration numbers that Trudeau left behind.

Poillievre said Canada needs “very hard caps on immigration levels” moving forward to relieve strain on Canada’s employment numbers, housing, and health care, when speaking to the media during a July 14 press conference.

Jennifer Cowan, Matthew Horwood, and Paul Rowan Brian contributed to this report.