Canada’s Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) is a key pathway for skilled workers seeking immigration to Canada. Almost every province and territory administers its PNP on an autonomous basis, supervising the nomination and welcoming processes for qualified workers who wish to settle in the specific jurisdiction.
PNP aims to address labor needs in different provinces while establishing a more equitable distribution of new immigrants across Canada, keeping them away from large cities. Furthermore, the initiative prioritizes the integration and retention of newly arrived individuals within the province or territory where they were nominated.
Immigrants must really commit to living in the nominating province in order to get permanent resident status under the PNP. After landing, there are no constraints on leaving the province, but the initial commitment is crucial.
A recent thorough analysis using information from tax records and the Immigrant Landing File was carried out by Statistics Canada. This study examined how well the PNP kept immigrants in the provinces of their choice, using three different metrics to assess the program’s influence on retention patterns.
Trends and variations across provinces
The study’s conclusions showed that immigrants under the Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) tended to stay put in the province or territory where they first arrived. By the end of 2019, 89% of provincial nominees were still in the planned region. But retention rates varied greatly by province, with 95% in British Columbia, 92% in Alberta, 88% in Manitoba, and 78% in Saskatchewan, and 69% in Prince Edward Island to 97% in Ontario.
A sizable fraction (in the mid-80% range) of the nominees who remained in their province after the first year still lived there five years later. Retention rates varied significantly by province, notably, ranging from 39% to 94%.
It becomes less likely that immigrants will stay in their original province the longer they live in Canada. The province retention rate for individuals who arrived in 2010 was 95.8% after one year, 88.7% after five years, and 84.4% after ten. Even with this drop, these numbers show a significant proportion, confirming that most provincial nominees stay in their original province ten years following migrating.
Provinces demonstrated the highest rates of immigrant retention
Variations in economic possibilities and conditions among provinces significantly impact retention rates. A province’s size also affects retention; larger provinces give immigrants looking for work in the area more options for where to settle, which lessens the need for them to migrate. Another element is city size; larger cities like Toronto and Vancouver usually have greater retention rates.
Provinces with the greatest Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) retention rates were British Columbia, Ontario, and Prince Edward Island; the lowest rates were reported by New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, and Prince Edward Island. Interestingly, the difference between the provinces grew larger every year after immigration.
Variations in provincial unemployment rates partly caused the noted disparities in retention rates between the Atlantic provinces and Ontario, Alberta, and British Columbia. Even after considering a wide range of control variables, there remained a significant variation in retention rates between these regions. This highlights the intricate interaction of variables influencing immigrants’ choices to remain in a specific province, highlighting the complexity of regional retention dynamics.
To which province are immigrants relocating?
States can profit from provincial candidates who come to the state from other parts of the nation as well as those who come here originally and stay put.
When it comes to provincial nominees’ secondary migration, Ontario stands up as a key draw. In Ontario, the number of provincial candidates who had been in the province during the landing year increased by 23% in the first full year following the landing. In the fifth year, this percentage shot up to a whopping 56 percent.
Notably, when considering both departing and arriving provincial nominees, Ontario stood out as the only province with a substantial net gain. It saw a large influx of nominees from other provinces, confirming its reputation as a draw for this kind of secondary migration.
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