Carney says government has ‘taken back control’ of immigration

OTTAWA — Prime Minister Mark Carney says his government has “taken back control” of immigration.

The prime minister made the remarks at a press conference in Red Deer, Alta., on Wednesday, after being asked about an upcoming referendum that will ask Albertans how they want the province to deal with immigration.

They include questions about having the province assume more control over the immigration system and whether there should be a law requiring proof of citizenship in order to vote in a provincial election.

The Alberta government will also ask citizens if they would support restricting access to provincially funded services like health care and education to citizens, permanent residents and those with “Alberta-approved” immigration status. There are two spinoff questions associated with this referendum item.

Carney told reporters that immigration was “far too high” when his government took over and Canada had “lost control” of its intake of foreign students and temporary workers.

The prime minister said the flow of asylum seekers entering Canada is down by a third, while the influx of temporary foreign workers and foreign students are down respectively by one-half and two-thirds.

Data from the immigration department says about 19,000 study permit holders arrived in Canada between January and May. Almost 78,000 temporary workers arrived over the same time period.

More than 115,000 international students and nearly 209,000 temporary workers came to Canada in 2025, according to the immigration department.

Carney said Canada is “on top of the numbers” and the federal government and premiers now have an opportunity to discuss next steps.

“The overall levels still are putting pressure on housing, so we still need a few more years of restraint. There’s a good argument for that but we need to discuss that,” he said.

The prime minister said that he and the premiers discussed prioritizing certain skills for economic immigrants during their recent meeting on Prince Edward Island.

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith said her province has about 6,400 spots open this year in the provincial nominee program for permanent residency.

“I think we’ve got 40,000 people who have sought permanent residency from us, and so that’s why I think need a bit of a better balance,” Smith said.

“Quebec is able to choose about 45,000 of their permanent residents through a different program. And so if you’re looking at the scale, we think that we need to be able to have more autonomy to do that.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 29, 2026.

— with files from Bill Graveland in Red Deer

Catherine Morrison and David Baxter, The Canadian Press