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Grace Mastrada’s voice trembles as she remembers someone she met who was denied permanent residence in Canada.
She says, “I could see her pain. She was really looking forward to being with her family for a long time, but then the system hindered her from getting this application, getting this PR that she was wishing or waiting for, praying for.” “It’s very sad.”
Her own story was not so different, although it had a happy ending.
She had to wait nearly 10 years to be reunited with her family as she followed her “little Canadian dream”. After working in Hong Kong for a while, Mustrada moved to the Greater Toronto Area in 2018.
When she tried to apply for permanent residence and found out she was ineligible, she paid thousands of dollars to obtain a personal support worker certificate.
Then, the COVID-19 pandemic upended her plans, but in 2022, she was able to take advantage of a program that offered a path to PR, and she could finally bring her family to the Philippines.
“It’s very special to live with my mother again,” says her daughter Leila, who was 18 when she immigrated. “Even sharing a meal with him from time to time are little things, but they really mean a lot, they mean a lot to me.”
Leila says she’s grateful that her mother’s hard work paid off, but is sad for those who are now trying to get to Canada and may face even greater challenges.
Four in 10 newcomers say Canada should let in fewer than 100,000 people per year
Over the past two years, Ottawa has been curbing immigration levels and curbing some programs to reduce the number of temporary residents in Canada.
The federal budget presented earlier this month targets 380,000 new permanent residents per year from 2026 to 2028, and nearly halves the number of temporary residents allowed into the country.
According to a new Leger poll conducted by OMNI News, the new goals appear to be close to what most newcomers expect from the federal government, though still well above them.
The survey was conducted in October, about a month before Ottawa released its updated immigration level plan, among 1,510 respondents, all of whom were born outside Canada.
It found that 67 per cent of newcomers believe Canada should admit fewer than 300,000 new immigrants per year, and four in 10 say the number should be even lower, under 100,000.
“I think it’s a terrible shame that public perceptions regarding immigration into the country have changed so dramatically,” says Andrew Enns, executive vice president of Leger.
He points out that while newcomers largely support the government cutting immigration to ease pressure on housing, health care and other services, new immigrants are less likely to agree.
“People who are new to the country raise their hands a little bit and say, ‘Okay, wait. Temporary foreign workers, maybe we need them in some places.’ Because I think they feel that when you start making these changes, they’re the ones who are affected.”
‘We were failed by the system’: New immigrants bear brunt of strict policies
The OMNI-Léger survey shows that so far, only one in 10 immigrants has felt the consequences of strict immigration policies personally or through a family member. And while more people are likely to be affected by the implementation of the new government measures, the impact is already having a profound effect on some people.
Abhijeet Singh, who came to Canada as an international student in 2019, is now considering his options after his application for PR under the Ontario Express Entry Skilled Trades stream was rejected.
“We faced COVID and at that time the government invited international students to come, study and work,” he told OMNI News. “At the time, no one questioned whether we were taking jobs away from Canadians.”
“We were failed by the system,” he says, adding that he waited almost two years to find out if he could get a PR. “Now, most of our work permits are expiring soon, and they say they can’t do anything.”
“When someone sends you from India or Tunisia to study in Toronto or Vancouver, the expectation is to stay there,” says Alessandra Attias, an immigration consultant in Montreal. “But that’s not everybody’s case. So people feel kind of cheated.”
He believes Canada has been very good at marketing itself as a prime destination for newcomers over the years, but things are more complicated now, as immigration policies are more dynamic.
Newcomers divided over Carney government’s record on immigration
According to the Léger poll, balancing immigration with housing and infrastructure capacity and supporting economic growth should be the top priority for Canada’s immigration system.
However, newcomers are divided on whether Ottawa is currently doing a better job on this file.
Four in 10 say they see no difference between the immigration policies of the Mark Carney-led government and those of former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau – the same percentage of respondents who believe things have improved.
Meanwhile, in Guelph, Ontario, where she is in her third year of university, Leila Nuestrada says immigrants need to be “more realistic about how life works in Canada now,” adding that both Canadians and newcomers need to be more empathetic.
“We must foster a more supportive community,” she adds. “We all want a better life for ourselves and our families.”
Using Leger’s online panel, the poll was completed between October 2 and October 15, 2025 among 1,510 respondents, all of whom were born outside Canada. No margin of error can be added to this.
This story is part of a series from OMNI News featuring data releases throughout the month.