News. For Newcomers | November 18, 2025

Ontario has suspended the Express Entry Skilled Trades Stream and is returning all pending applications with full refunds. Following a pause to the program, a formal review uncovered widespread compliance issues, including misrepresentation linked to the stream’s eligibility criteria.

The 2025 Annual Report to Parliament on Immigration was just released. This yearly review outlines how Canada’s immigration system is performing, including permanent and temporary resident numbers, key policy updates, and the Immigration Levels Plan that sets admissions targets for the next three years.

The report matters because it signals where Canada is headed, this year emphasizing sustainable growth, stronger alignment with labour needs, and more stable pathways for people already living in Canada.

Canada saw its largest decline of the year in September 2025, with the temporary resident population falling by about 70,000. The drop was driven mainly by decreases in study permit holders and those holding both study and work permits, bringing total temporary residents to 2,220,060, the lowest level so far in 2025. Study permit holders fell to 473,860, while combined study–work permit holders decreased to 251,300. Work permit holders remained steady at 1,494,900.

Thanks to RCIC, Veronica Sepehr, for sharing this article, which sheds light on how Canada’s strained immigration system is overwhelming MPs’ offices.

A Canadian Affairs piece reveals that some constituency offices spend up to 95 percent of their time handling immigration files. Former MPs describe being inundated with requests from applicants unable to reach IRCC since local offices were closed and services centralized online. I (Rebecca) remember a time when you could email a program manager and get real answers for a particular application, in weeks, not months.

From my experience, contacting an MP can often help get answers or move things along, but it should be a thoughtful step, taken only after other avenues have been exhausted, not as a first resort. Hopefully, in the future, Canada’s immigration system will function efficiently enough that this kind of political intervention won’t be necessary.

Tariffs don’t just affect big businesses, they can quietly raise the price of everyday items like groceries, clothes, and small appliances. Even small import taxes can affect what you pay at checkout. If tariffs rise, it’s smart to give your household budget a little extra breathing room for food and essentials.

You can track these shifts with the free Canada Tariff Finder tool to see whether rates are climbing or falling on products you buy often. If a tariff’s set to rise, it might make sense to buy that item sooner; if it’s dropping, waiting could save you a few dollars. Small habits like this – along with loyalty programs, cashback cards, or choosing store brands – can quietly balance out those creeping price increases before they start to sting.

This newsletter is sponsored by our partner, Wise, a game-changing platform for international money transfers. It has over 13 million global users, a user-friendly app, and it supports over 50 currencies. It makes sending money to and from Canada fast, transparent, and affordable.

Finding work in a new country can be challenging — new systems, unfamiliar expectations, and credentials that don’t always transfer easily. Across Canada, though, there are free and low-cost training programs designed to help newcomers restart or advance their careers. Funded by federal and provincial partners, these programs offer job-readiness workshops, bridging programs, and skills training to help you succeed in the Canadian job market.

Stepping off that plane or crossing the border into Canada, is one of those moments that feels both surreal and nerve-wracking. You’ve planned for months, maybe years, and now you’re finally here. But before you start imagining your first snowstorm or your first Tim Hortons coffee, there’s one small hurdle: the Canadian border.