New Brunswick, Critical Worker Pilot, has garnered the interest of several skilled newcomers seeking Canadian immigration. This program took effect in November 2022.
The program is an attempt of the federal government and the provincial government of New Brunswick to draw immigrants who can fill labor shortages in the region. The New Brunswick PNP has an employer-driven stream with six participating firms. These are all spread out across the province and represent a diverse range of industries and sectors:
- Cooke Aquaculture Inc.;
- Groupe Savoie Inc.;
- Groupe Westco;
- Imperial Manufacturing;
- J.D. Irving Ltd.; and
- McCain Foods
The New Brunswick government stated when the program initially began; these employers were chosen because they had a history of outstanding immigrant recruitment practices and already had the requisite settlement programs in place.
The five-year experiment will be evaluated on a regular basis.
New Brunswick Critical Worker Pilot- comparison with other programs
While the program uses the NB PNP to target economic immigrants, qualified NBCWP candidates will receive additional settlement assistance. Participating firms must demonstrate their ability to supply the following to guarantee candidates receive this support:
- Comprehensive human resources planning for finding and hiring qualified international talent as well as for on-the-job skill development;
- Solid settlement plans for housing and transportation to potentially assist the successful establishment of candidates in their new jobs and communities;
- Candidates must receive up to 200 hours of language instruction per requirement;
- Offer candidates advice and assistance if they decide to seek their Canadian secondary education equivalency.
NB CWP application and its eligibility
Candidates in the program must prove their intention to live in the province and have a legitimate work offer from an appropriate employer to be nominated.
The compensation must be comparable with New Brunswick wage rates for the position in the job offer. According to the government, the salary listed on the job offer must:
- Be consistent with your employer’s salary compensation structure.
- Ensure competence to the rate paid to workers in New Brunswick performing similar occupations with equivalent levels of training and experience.
Instead of going through the provincial government, program participants apply directly to one of the program employers.
New Brunswick Critical Worker Pilot- what about the program size?
A maximum of 10% of New Brunswick’s overall Provincial Nominee Program will go towards the trial program.
Reportedly, the program’s early success indicates that by 2023, this pilot will be able to support as many as 300 applicants and their families.
The government is currently closely analyzing the outcomes because the program is still relatively new, according to ONB. It is still too early to anticipate any estimated figures at the moment.
It is uncertain whether the program will grow to include other employers for now. According to ONB, the pilot’s scope is still constrained, so it is not currently accessible to a larger audience.
According to the reports, participant workers are voluntarily engaged with the program and are pretty excited about it as well.
New Brunswick- what about the immigration prospects?
ONB is confident that the pilot will continue to draw in highly qualified immigrants to the province.
The Atlantic Immigration Pilot Program and the NB Strategic Initiative stream are just two of the immigration streams that New Brunswick has successfully piloted in the past, according to ONB.
According to ONB, this program, like the other pilots, has the ability to:
- Implement novel approaches to immigration for economic reasons;
- Monitor the results in a controlled manner, allowing them to make adjustments; and
- Learn from these attempts, and build on the successes they encounter.
Immigration has contributed to the population increase in New Brunswick in recent years. Per the statistics from the Canadian Real Estate Association, New Brunswick’s population increased by 4,219 due to immigration in the fourth quarter of 2022. In 2021, the same period saw an increase of 116.8%.
Additionally, the province declared in April that it had obtained a 67% boost in federal funding for immigration. According to the NB PNP and the Atlantic Immigration Program, the province will have 5,500 slots available for provincial economic immigration programs in 2023.
