Canada's ultra-liberal prime minister Justin Trudeau admits immigration into his country is too high and that number of newcomers must be 'brought down'

Canada's ultra-liberal prime minister has admitted that immigration levels into his country are too high and says the number of newcomers must be 'brought under control'. 

Addressing an audience at a housing announcement in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, on Tuesday, Justin Trudeau said the number of temporary foreign workers coming into Canada has increased at a rate 'far beyond what Canada has been able to absorb'. 

The prime minister, known for his liberal stance on immigration, said the number of temporary migrants in Canada more than tripled in the last seven years, and must be 'brought under control'. 

'Whether it's temporary foreign workers or whether it's international students in particular, that have grown at a rate far beyond what Canada has been able to absorb,' Trudeau said. 

'To give an example, in 2017, two percent of Canada's population was made up of temporary immigrants. Now we're at 7.5 percent of our population comprised of temporary immigrants. That's something we need to get back under control.'

'We want to get those numbers down,' Trudeau continued. 

'It's a responsible approach to immigration that continues on our permanent residents, as we have, but also hold the line a little more on the temporary immigration that has caused so much pressure in our communities.' 

Canada is battling a 130 percent spike in the number of Mexicans, Haitians, and others seeking asylum there, overwhelming shelters and leaving officials scrambling with an $822 million crisis.

Shelter systems in Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa, Vancouver, and other Canadian cities are over capacity, prompting its liberal government to take steps to deter the flows of people north.

Canada's geography means it sees a fraction as many irregular border crossings as the US, but there's been an increase in the numbers arriving by air — particularly from Mexico.

Shelter systems in Montreal, Ottawa, and Vancouver are also over capacity — exacerbating a shortage of available places for the homeless population. 

The influx has prompted Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's government to make policy shifts.

Mexico is by far the largest source country for those seeking asylum in Canada, followed by Haiti, Turkey, India and Colombia. 

The rapid growth in asylum seekers in Canada is happening in tandem with record population gains, driven by foreign workers and international students. 

The number of international students in the country has tripled to around 1 million in less than a decade.

Frustration over housing shortages has forced Trudeau's government to scale back on its immigration ambitions in recent months. Among other policies, it's capping the number of foreign-study permits. 

Last year, Trudeau and US President Joe Biden agreed to end a pact that had resulted in asylum-seekers crossing into Canada from the US at a location known as Roxham Road.

In February, Trudeau's government reimposed visa rules for many Mexican citizens.

Last month, Canada said it plans to reduce the size of its temporary resident population, a group that includes asylum claimants and foreigners on temporary work permits.

In Peel, a Toronto suburb, the shelter system is running at 300 percent of capacity, with asylum-seekers occupying more than 70 percent of the beds and many more camping on the streets, officials say.

'It's an ugly situation,' Patrick Brown, the mayor of Brampton, Ontario, said this week.

'If Canada's going to allow more asylum claimants into our country, we need to make sure that they're not left abandoned, and frankly, what we've seen is too much of that.'

In Brampton, about 80 percent came from five African countries, including Kenya and Nigeria, Brown said.

The numbers have risen because of the overlapping conflicts and crises in other nations, the resumption of international travel after the pandemic and Canada's broadening of the legal basis for asylum claims.

Trudeau's government - under pressure from Quebec Premier Francois Legault and Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow - offered about C$360 million or $265 million in January to provinces and cities. 

That was to help deal with 'extraordinary interim housing pressures' from asylum claimants.

It says it's transferred about C$750 million to other levels of government since 2017 to help with asylum-related housing costs. That adds up to C$1.1 billion, $822 million.