Monte McNaughton, the immigration minister of Ontario wants that the province has more control over the economic immigration class as well as receive double immigrants through the Provincial Nominee Program.
More than 211,000 immigrants arriving in Ontario this current year. McNaughton stated in a media release that fewer than 5% of immigrants are chosen in Ontario. Comparatively, this year, Nova Scotia will choose 50% of its immigrants, while British Columbia will be able to choose 11,000 immigrants. I want Ottawa to come up with a new immigration accord because we’re really at a disadvantage.
According to McNaughton, the province of Ontario is only permitted to propose 9,750 of the anticipated 211,000 immigrants who are expected to move there this year for permanent residency in Canada, despite the fact that there are approximately 378,000 open positions in the province.
In reference to the most recent provincial elections, in which his Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario won a second consecutive majority government, McNaughton said: “When I traveled Ontario, it wasn’t election signs that I was seeing but help wanted signs in small businesses across our province.” It’s critical that the federal government collaborates with us so that we can and should be precise in addressing labor shortages.
The decline marks the expiration of the Canada-Ontario Immigration Agreement (COIA). This contract serves as the foundation for Ontario’s partnership with the federal government related to immigration. government of Federal, territorial and provincial, collaborate to oversee immigration in Canada. Although the provinces and territories are able to establish their own eligibility requirements for their own migration program, the federal government ultimately has the last chance at getting to immigrate to Canada. Since the existing COIA is coming to an end, Ontario has the chance to bargain with the federal government to alter its immigration policy.
According to McNaughton, the conversations have already started. Sean Fraser, Canada’s Minister of Immigration, has been in touch with McNaughton on a weekly and occasionally daily basis, he added, highlighting their great working relationship.
Canada receives two requests from Ontario
In order to raise Ontario’s PNP allocation to 1800 and gain more control over economic immigration, McNaughton said he is making two major demands to the federal government. He emphasized that Ontario supports federal efforts to reunite families and relocate refugees.
More influence over immigrants who come to this country to fill open positions would be desirable, according to McNaughton. “The existing strategy is ineffective, more economic immigrants are required. It’s the following stage in addressing the labor deficit.
An example of an action Ontario has previously made to strengthen the recognition of credentials for foreign employees is the removal of the requirement for Canadian experience to obtain a license in a variety of regulated occupations. The minister notes that there remains room for improvement in the province’s economic immigration, nevertheless.
McNaughton Said; that there are several things that we are looking like upgrading the Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP) as well as providing better versatility.
McNaughton stated in a media release that, in order to examine immigration requirements at the provincial and territorial levels, the Forum of Representation Describes for Immigration will meet with the federal government this week in New Brunswick. Since 2003, the federal and provincial governments have met annually to discuss immigration matters.
Immigration in Ontario: A Special Situation
Canada’s immigration landscape is particularly distinctive in Ontario. It is not surprising that this province welcomes the greatest number of immigrants headed for Canada because it has by far the largest population in the country.
But even though Ontario has about 40% of Canada’s population, it has admitted about 45% of the nation’s immigrants before the pandemic. Around 405,000 new immigrants arrived in Canada the year before, and it received approximately 50% of them. This resulted from the Immigration Levels Plan’s target of obtaining over 400,000 new permanent residents, which required the IRCC to convert more temporary residents to permanent residents via Express Entry, among other measures. Since there are many foreign students and temporary workers in Ontario, the province benefited from the change in IRCC policy.
Due to its sizable economy, diaspora populations, and significant immigrant settlement services, Ontario is the top destination for immigrants from Canada. In order to encourage a fairer distribution of immigrants across Canada, IRCC developed the PNP in 1998, giving smaller provinces and territories more influence over immigration decisions based on economic class.
The PNP is also run by larger provinces like Ontario, British Columbia, and Alberta to meet local labor market demands. However, because these three provinces also profit from federal economic class immigration, the PNP typically accounts for a lesser portion of their total immigration levels.
Particularly in the case of Ontario, the federal economic class arrivals as well as the family and refugee class immigrants, which are also under federal authority, outweigh the PNP immigration.
In fact, prior to the pandemic, Ontario was the only province or territory to accept more immigrants from the family and refugee classes than from the economic class. The province has long contended that this makes it difficult to promote economic development at a time when more baby boomers are retiring. As the province deals with the severe labor shortages that are being seen across Canada, this argument is becoming increasingly more relevant.
The federal government must, on the other hand, cope with the difficult task of attempting to balance national immigration priorities. Increasing Ontario’s OINP allocation could conflict with IRCC’s objective of promoting immigration to the remaining provinces and territories of Canada, given the province is becoming the leading recommendation for the majority of federally selected economic class immigrants. To find a middle ground, IRCC could raise the OINP allocation while simultaneously raising the PNP allotment of certain other states and territories that indicate this wish. A PNP allocation rise across the committee could reduce the likelihood that a greater OINP allocation will make it harder for other jurisdictions to draw in new residents.
More recent Canadian immigrants are projected to be included in the PNP in the future. According to the Immigration Levels Plan 2022–2024, which was unveiled in February, Canada is aiming to accept 83,500 immigrants through the PNP in the year and, by 2024, the goal would increase to 93,000. Considering that only 400 immigrants arrived in Canada in the PNP’s first full calendar year of existence in 1999, these goals are the highest in Canadian history.
The objectives may increase much further. By November 1, Minister Fraser must present the Canada Immigration Levels Plan 2023–2025.
