OTTAWA, Canada (AFP) — Canada said Thursday it was significantly curbing immigration targets in an effort to “pause population growth,” a shift that comes as public support for immigration declines.

The announcement comes after the Canadian population surged to 41 million, a rise largely fuelled by an unprecedented wave of new arrivals.

The immigration ministry had previously planned to let 500,000 new permanent residents settle in the country in 2025 and 2026.

But the new targets were revised down to 395,000 next year and 380,000 for 2026. It set the 2027 target at 365,000.

The immigration ministry said the plan’s goal was to “pause population growth in the short term to achieve well-managed, sustainable growth in the long term”.

“While it’s clear our economy needs newcomers, we see the pressures facing our country, and we must adapt our policies accordingly,” Immigration Minister Marc Miller said in the statement.

The ministry said the plan also aims to ease pressure on housing, with Canadians consistently ranking the cost of renting or owning a home as a top concern.

The ministry credited an immigration surge with helping the Canadian economy emerge from the COVID pandemic without entering a recession.

A survey last month from the Environics Institute on public attitudes toward immigration found that “for the first time in a quarter century, a clear majority of Canadians say there is too much immigration”.

Fifty-eight per cent of Canadians believe the country takes in too many immigrants, up 14 percentage points from 2023, the survey found.