The Financial Post reports in its Friday edition that Ottawa's policy following the pandemic to ease border restrictions in response to record high job vacancies lacked a "balanced" approach that ultimately compelled Ottawa to take the rare step of reducing its annual immigration targets. The Post's Naimul Karim writes the feds now want a net reduction of about 900,000 temporary residents in the next two years and has cut its permanent residency targets to 395,000 from 500,000. The government expects the new targets to take Canada's population growth rate below 0 per cent in 2025 and 2026, after increasing at a record rate of 3 per cent in the past two years when it added about two million people. Canada needs immigrants because of its aging population, but the government's "stop, start" immigration policy creates "economic volatility" and does not send a clear message to businesses or even the government officials responsible for making long-term plans, TD Bank senior economist James Orlando said. "I don't think you just turn this on, turn it off, because the uncertainty it provides is the real problem," he said in a note. "If you have an idea about the population growth, you can plan houses, buildings, doctors, etc."