In a letter to Immigration minister Sean Fraser, Ontario; Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Ontario’s provincial immigration minister urged him to collaborate with the provinces to enhance Canada’s immigration system.
The letter was sent on the 26th of July in which it was stated that there were labor shortages all across the nation and that Canada needed to do more to entice immigrants with in-demand talents, particularly in the skilled trades.
“Provinces best comprehend the demands of their particular economies,” the letter asserts. ” “We need a flexible structure that we can adjust to a fluctuating market and humanitarian circumstances so that we can respond to the fast-evolving needs of individual locations and populations.”
Prior to a meeting with Fraser and their other immigration ministers in Saint John, New Brunswick, they argue that Canada must do more to draw and keep people, especially those in specialized crafts. They contend that provinces ought to have the ability to enlist labor and provide qualified local jobs.
The Provincial Nominee Program (PNP), which gives provinces the flexibility to design their own immigration policies, gives them the choice of selecting immigrants. Although Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC), the federal government, has the last word about who can immigrate to Canada, the provinces are free to establish their own selection standards, allowing them to meet local labor shortages.
How many prospective immigrants each province is allowed to designate annually is up to the federal government. While the federal government can negotiate the provinces’ share, the final say lies with them.
Monte McNaughton, the minister of immigration for Ontario, is requesting that the PNP allotment be increased to 18,000 from the current 6,000. Additionally, McNaughton favors Ontario’s immigration policy as more independent of Quebec’s. Only 9,750 people may be chosen under Ontario’s provincial immigration program out of the 211,000 immigrants the province expects to welcome. The minister claims that the province currently has 378,000 open positions.
Statistics Canada reports that there are roughly 28,000 open positions in Manitoba, 20,000 in Saskatchewan, and 88,000 in Alberta. For this year, the Immigration Levels Plan 2022–2024 has set a goal of 83,500 PNP landings in all provinces (excluding Quebec, which has its own immigration system). The ministers of the four provinces contend that despite the fact that this is a record high and will likely eclipse 90,000 landings by 2024, it is not enough to assist them to deal with the historically severe labor shortages they are currently facing.
