How immigration cuts are affecting newcomers, businesses and communities on P.E.I.
'If they walk away, you'll see things close down,' says O'Leary mayor
When Liam Ang moved to Prince Edward Island in 2023, he was excited to start his studies at UPEI. He also hoped to one day make the Island his new home.
Now, the third-year student is considering leaving the country after graduation.
Ang, who is originally from Malaysia, said the many recent changes to Canada's immigration policies make it hard to navigate and plan for the future.
"It can be quite hard on me," he told CBC's Island Morning. "You have to plan so much and then think again, and then, you know, taking the next step."
What are the changes?
The federal government has made sweeping changes to Canada's immigration system as the country's population continues to grow, reaching more than 41.5 million in October. Immigration has been a major factor in this growth, as concerns rise over so many people needing things like housing and health care.
As part of a new immigration plan, Ottawa has cut the projected number of new permanent residents to 395,000 this year, an 18.5 per cent reduction from 2024. The target will drop further to 380,000 in 2026 and 365,000 in 2027, as the federal government aims for a 0.2 per cent population decline over the next two years.
P.E.I. has definitely been affected. The federal government has slashed the Island's nominee allocation for 2025 under the Provincial Nominee Program and the Atlantic Immigration Program by half, reducing it to 1,025.
That decision came after the province voluntarily reduced its own nominations last year, issuing just 1,590 nominations out of its allocation of 2,050.
The P.E.I. government said this reduction was aimed at easing population growth and the strain that causes on housing and health care, while prioritizing workers in high-demand fields like health care and construction. The change sparked months of protests from some foreign workers in sales and service jobs, who felt their path to permanent residency was being cut off.
Ang, whose major is international business, feels he doesn't stand a good chance of finding a job here that could help him get nominated for permanent residency.
"So it's better for me to take a solid path where after my study, I just go back and then probably take some internship elsewhere… probably Europe or Asian countries, companies that provide international experience."
Shreesh Agrawal, vice president external at UPEI's Student Union, echoed Ang's concerns.
With so many changes and reductions in Canada's immigration system, Agrawal said he's heard from many international students and graduates on P.E.I. about their struggles in obtaining permanent residency. They are facing having to leave Canada after their post-graduate work permits expire, wasting their time, connections and experience.
"They're facing so much uncertainty and so much unpredictability, not knowing what their future's going to look like," Agrawal said.
Business owners feeling the impact
It's not just international students. Many businesses on P.E.I. are also struggling with the effects of the immigration cuts.
Harneet Brar, who owns House of Spice, an Indian restaurant in Summerside, said she has lost kitchen staff as employees moved to other provinces in search of better immigration opportunities.
She's losing customers too.
Brar said many of her restaurant's regulars were Indian workers in the area. But after the immigration changes, many quietly and gradually left the Island.
"So when they moved out, we... saw about 30 to 40 per cent loss in revenue," she said, and she's heard similar concerns from other business owners nearby.
She's now has to reduce her staff to three employees and cut costs wherever possible.
"I had to take out a loan on my house, so my employees can get paid on time — and then the mental stress that you feel because of all these things," Brar said.
Her business is now trying to broaden its customer base by reaching out to the wider community, hiring a new chef, changing the menu, adjusting spice levels, and modifying dishes to appeal to local tastes.
"We just cannot depend on immigration anymore."
Impact on rural areas
Brar noted that up until the winter of 2023, her restaurant was still doing well, with many foreign workers as regular customers. But things changed after that.
That trend is reflected across the Island, where the number of temporary residents on P.E.I. has been declining since the fall of 2023 and throughout 2024. This period coincided with the King government's major changes to immigration policies on the Island.
According to recent data from Statistics Canada, while non-permanent residents such as international students and foreign workers significantly contributed to P.E.I.'s population growth since 2021, their numbers have plummeted since late 2023. In the last quarter of 2023 and for most of 2024, net migration in this category was negative, meaning more temporary residents left the Island than arrived.
In the western P.E.I. community of O'Leary, Mayor Eric Gavin worries that immigration cuts could have far-reaching effects on rural areas.
O'Leary has a population of about 1,500, and roughly 10 per cent are newcomers. That might look like a small number, but they are a major part of the town's labour force, Gavin said. The town and the broader western P.E.I. region rely heavily on temporary foreign workers for fish processing plants, for example.
"If they walk away, you'll see things close down," he said.
However, the federal government is now reducing the number of temporary foreign workers, as announced in August last year.
All in all on P.E.I., the number of work permits issued for temporary foreign workers coming to the Island increased from 950 in 2020 to 1,600 in 2023. But in 2024, that number dropped to 1,460, according to Statistics Canada.
With potentially fewer workers arriving, or with more leaving in search of better chances at permanent residency, Gavin said he's concerned about the impact on essential services in a region already coping with an aging population and labour shortages.
"If they're not here, that means the fish plants don't work and the grocery stores don't stay open. That is a very big concern of me, and I think of mostly a lot of people up in this area," he said.
Bloomfield resident Ruby Lubigan, who came to P.E.I. from the Philippines more than a decade ago as a fish plant worker, agreed.
Lubigan, who is now a Canadian citizen and a local business owner, said the immigrant community in West Prince has made significant contributions to the region — in particular, Filipino workers in the fish plants. But many of them are becoming increasingly worried about new immigration rules and the increasing difficulty of obtaining permanent residency.
"I really feel bad because they came here to work and to stay and to bring their family, their kids, and to stay for good," she said.
Francophone community also affected
The shifts in immigration policy are also affecting the francophone community on the Island.
Kathleen Couture, director of the French Daycare Association of P.E.I., said more than 80 per cent of staff in the province's five francophone daycare centres are workers hired internationally, and about 25 of them are currently seeking permanent residency.
"Prior to doing international hiring, our centres were closing. We didn't have enough spaces. We couldn't fill the capacity. We couldn't take in more children because we didn't have the teachers," Couture said.
"Using international recruitment, we are now at full capacity in all five of our centres. Our licences are full. We have waiting lists, so I still have about 160 to 200 children waiting to get a spot."
A popular immigration stream for these internationally hired staff has been the Atlantic Immigration Program, which, until last year, still prioritized child-care jobs, Couture said.
This year, however, along with the 50 per cent reduction in P.E.I.'s nominee allocations, the provincial government has also limited applications under the Atlantic Immigration Program, so that only workers in the health-care, construction and manufacturing sectors need apply, according to the province's website.
"Not only did they slash it in half, but they don't give any priority to early-childhood education. So we were kind of double hit with that," Couture said.
"I had phone calls. I had people calling me saying, 'Does that mean I won't get my permanent residency? Does that mean I can't stay? We love P.E.I.. We want to stay.'"
If they're not here, that means the fish plants don't work and the grocery stores don't stay open. That is a very big concern.— Eric Gavin
And it's not just hurting these employees, it's affecting their families and children as well, she added.
Couture recently spoke with the Immigrant and Refugee Services Association P.E.I. and found that her staff may qualify for a federal immigration stream for French-speaking skilled workers. However, with Ottawa reducing permanent residency spots, the process will likely take much longer than before, she said.
Couture said the province needs to reconsider its approach.
"If people won't come to Prince Edward Island unless they have care for their children, they can't come and work without child care, whether it be French or English. So early childhood education needs to be a priority."
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With files from Island Morning