Poilievre Says Ottawa Should Reduce Immigration, ‘Deluxe Benefits’ Following New Government Announcement 

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre called for lower immigration levels and criticized what he called “deluxe benefits” after Ottawa announced changes to its Express Entry system that would give additional points for some permanent residency applicants in “high-wage” jobs.

“We need reduced immigration,” Poilievre told reporters in Wainwright, Alta., on Oct. 19. “We need to cut back on the deluxe benefits that are given to people here illegally, especially when we’re giving out benefits that are more generous to people here illegally than Canadians who have paid taxes all their lives receive.”

Immigration Minister Lena Diab

announced on

Oct. 16 that certain applicants would receive additional points under Express Entry, the federal system used to select skilled foreign workers for permanent residence. The changes, which take effect Nov. 3, would favour applicants with Canadian work experience or job offers in “high-wage” occupations.

“These changes will help us identify, attract and retain the skilled newcomers who are best positioned to succeed in Canada, while making the Express Entry system more targeted and responsive to our labour market needs,” Diab said.

The government will also remove the requirement for employers to obtain a Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA) for qualifying job offers used to earn the new points. An LMIA assesses the potential impact of hiring a foreign worker on the Canadian labour market, and requires employers to show that they have tried to recruit Canadian citizens or permanent residents.

Under the new rules, an occupation is considered high-wage if its median wage is at least 1.3 times the overall workforce’s median-wage benchmark, with the Canada Job Bank currently listing the national median hourly wage as $55.03. Ottawa listed

dozens of eligible occupations

, including senior government managers, mining and petroleum engineers, nurses, lawyers and judges, physicists, data scientists, fire chiefs, and writers.

Poilievre said that many immigrants to Canada are among the people “most frustrated with the broken immigration system,” given that they followed the rules and then saw those rules “removed” by the Liberal government.

“So I don’t blame individual people, I blame the Liberal politicians,” he said.

The Conservatives have also called for Ottawa to cut back on the Interim Federal Health Program (IFHP), which was created to provide temporary healthcare coverage to foreign nationals deemed vulnerable and disadvantaged. The program’s costs have ballooned, with 623,365 people receiving benefits in fiscal year 2024–2025, including 440,537 asylum claimants, with expenses totalling $896.5 million.

Ottawa made

changes

to the IFHP earlier this year to require most people to pay 30 percent of the costs for health services, assistive devices, and medical supplies that had previously been covered, but the insurance provider for the program said in August that many of those items would be moved to a different coverage tier and co-payments would be scrapped.

Poilievre was also asked at the press conference if the federal government should open up constitutional debate if the constitution-related questions on the

Oct. 19 Alberta referendum

pass.

Among the items on the 10-question referendum is whether the province should pursue abolishing the Senate, which would require a change to the Constitution. Other questions on the referendum relate to giving the province more control over issues related to immigration and judicial appointments, among other issues.

“I’m not going to prejudge the outcome,” Poilievre said, adding that the provinces do need more control over the number of people who come to Canada.

Poilievre, who grew up in Alberta and is the MP for the Alberta riding of Battle River—Crowfoot, urged Albertans to vote to stay within Canada, and not to start the process of holding a binding separation referendum.

“Like any home, sometimes a house needs renovation and repair. So … let’s fix what’s broken and make our country even better,” Poilievre said. “Let’s give Alberta the powers that it needs to blossom and flourish in its own way, and let’s do it together.”