IRCC extends work permits for Manitoba’s PNP candidates. A proposal from the Manitoba government to extend temporary residence status for particular applicants in the province’s Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) has been approved by Canada’s Immigration Minister, Marc Miller.
IRCC reports that most of these nominees are Post Graduation Work Permit (PGWP) holders, and their work permits will expire in 2024. A large number of these people are awaiting processing of their applications under the Manitoba Skilled Worker Program, an immigration route created to fill important positions in the province.
About 6,700 temporary workers will be able to keep their jobs while Manitoba processes their PNP applications thanks to this temporary extension. Within two years, the government expects eligible foreign nationals to receive official nominations from Manitoba and become permanent residents.
In order to fulfill the demands of the labor market at large, IRCC is willing to work with other Canadian provinces and territories to assist in the conversion of additional temporary residents into permanent residents. More information is expected after the Federation of Ministers Responsible for Immigration (FMRI) meets on May 10.
The Provincial Nominee Program in Manitoba
Manitoba introduced the Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) in 1998, becoming the first Canadian province to do so, with the goal of attracting immigrants away from larger cities like Toronto and Vancouver.
Due to the program’s success in sharing the economic gains from immigration, all Canadian territories and provinces—with the exception of Quebec and Nunavut—adopted it.
According to data, 10,000 Manitobans changed their status from workers to permanent residents in 2023. Between January and March of this year, candidates seeking skilled labor submitted 1,560 Expressions of Interest to the province, and it approved 1,478 of them.
According to IRCC data from 2022, the PNP accounted for 20% of all admissions of permanent residents. The Immigration Levels Plan of Canada, which establishes yearly goals for permanent residents, intends to accept 110,000 newcomers by the end of 2024 and 120,000 annually in 2025 and 2026.
Adjustments to Temporary Resident Numbers
This program fits with a previously stated focus for the year and beyond and is unique in Canada’s immigration scene. The goal of Minister Marc Miller’s announcement on March 21 was to ease the process of becoming a permanent resident by holding additional domestic immigration lotteries.
Stated differently, the goal of IRCC is to assist those who are currently in Canada in obtaining permanent status rather than enabling an infinite number of new temporary residents to join the nation each year. More than 2.5 million persons were temporary residents of Canada as of 2023, accounting for roughly 6.2% of the country’s entire population.
157,000 persons in all made the successful transfer from temporary to permanent status in 2023.
These changes to Canada’s temporary resident laws coincide with the nation’s struggles with a lack of reasonably priced housing for both new immigrants and long-term residents, an overworked healthcare system, and growing living expenses. A number of public opinion surveys conducted in 2023 revealed a fall in support for high immigration levels, which was consistent with broader apprehensions about the social and economic ramifications of higher immigration levels.
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