Immigration ministers of Ontario, Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba requested Canadian immigration minister, Sean Fraser to collaborate with the provinces to make the necessary improvements in the Canadian immigration system, through a signed letter.
They sent the letter on July 26, addressing the current challenge of labor shortage and the urgent need to take more initiatives to welcome more immigrants specifically with in-demand skills and specific trades.
The letter reiterated that provinces are well-aware of the requirements of the local economies. He further explained the ardent need to have a more flexible system to address the economic and humanitarian requirements that keep evolving with time. He even stated that there is a need to address the fast changes happening in the areas and communities.
The ministers form an intrinsic part of the Forum of Ministers who have the responsibility for immigration purposes. They are planning to meet with the federal government over a discussion on provincial and territorial immigration. The meetings have been continuing since 2003 and are held between the two government levels to outline the policies of Canadian immigration.
Provinces have the option of choosing immigrants through the Provincial Nominee Programs as these programs give a chance to provinces for the creation of immigration programs.
IRCC makes the final decision on the selection of immigrating candidates, but provinces have the authority to develop their selection criteria based on the labor needs of each region. However, it depends on the federal government to determine the capacity of each province to nominate immigrants. Provinces have the right to request more allocation but ultimately the decision depends upon the federal government.
Monte McNaughton, Ontario’s immigration minister has requested the federal government to increase the PNP allocation twice as compared to the previous allocation. He wants to increase it up to 18,000. He even demanded more autonomy over the immigration programs similar to Quebec.
Ontario’s estimate for newcomers totals 211,000 in the province. However, only 9,750 might make it through its PNP. The minister has also reported a large number of vacant jobs, as many as 378,000.
Statistics Canada reported that the province of Manitoba comprises 28,000 job vacancies, Saskatchewan consists of 20,000, and Alberta has over 88,000. The general target of the Immigration Levels Plan 2022-2024 is 83,500 PNPs throughout all the provinces, Quebec remains an exception to this as it has a separate immigration system. This target seems to appear as a higher one and will encompass 90,000 newcomers by 2024. However, the ministers of all four Canadian provinces believe that these targets will not be adequate to eliminate the ever-increasing labor shortages.
