Ontario has had a record of labor shortages, and to address this challenge, Ontario has demanded more immigration power to select the immigrants from the federal government. The immigration minister of Ontario, Mr. Monte McNaughton, stated in an interview about the thousands of vacancies that aren’t filling and the impact this is having on Ontario’s economy. Ontario believes it should get more power to select skilled immigrants, just like Quebec’s immigration system. The province has demanded more control and governance over its Provincial immigration program.
The immigration minister of Ontario wishes to renew the Ontario-Canada immigration agreement as it will expire soon. Ontario has already requested to increase the number of immigrants under the Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program. He aims to give the province control in deciding the immigrants to build a robust economy.
The number must be twice the current figure of 9,000. But the immigration minister informed that the recent allocation is only up to 9,700.
The current labor shortage in Ontario
It is very evident with the recent record-breaking unemployment rate of 4.9 % that there is an ardent need to hire workers. Since entire Canada is struggling, the province of Ontario is no exception.
Reportedly, Ontario’s unemployment is 5.1 percent, with 340,000 vacancies available.
The Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program
There is a PNP associated with all the provinces and territories. However, there are exceptions, such as Quebec and Nunavut. PNPs allow the provinces to select candidates who are perfect for them. If a province sends a nomination to a candidate, his chances of gaining a permanent residency status will improve.
Each province receives an allocation of immigrants. Thus, the province can select a specific number of immigrants as per the allocation and send them nominations under the immigration levels plan of the IRCC.
The immigration levels plan works toward creating awareness of the Canadian immigration benefits. The types of immigrants will include family, economic, refugees, and humanitarian class benefits.
Immigration in Ontario
As per official reports, in 2021, over half of Canada’s immigrants preferred to settle in Ontario. Even before the pandemic broke out worldwide, Ontario was one of the few provinces that witnessed maximum immigrants from the refugee and the family class. Diaspora communities and the solid system of settlement support encouraged refugees and family classes to immigrate to Ontario.
Canadian Provincial Nomination Programs comprise 83,500 spots, which include principal applicants, spouses, and dependents. The principal applicant spots amount to 9,700, which is Ontario’s highest allocation (PNP). The figure was provided by IRCC.
Ontario has a population of over 15 million people, and the figure of 9,700 is comparatively smaller. As for 2021’s allocation of 9,000, the new allocation of 9,700 is not significant but only marginal. Therefore, Ontario believes that the recent distribution isn’t sufficient to meet the economy’s demands and eliminate the labor shortage, that is, skilled workers.
Ontario’s immigration minister pointed out that the individualistic companies are short of 700 workers.
How will the higher allocation impact Canada?
It is estimated that if Ontario receives a higher allocation, it will significantly and positively impact Canada.
IRCC tries to support the immigration requirements of each province and territory through the National Mandate. The demand from Ontario to the federal government to provide it with more control over immigration comes under IRCCs National Mandate.
Ontario is genuinely struggling in terms of labor shortage. Giving it more power and control over the number and selection of immigrants will only help the province fill the job vacancies. As a result, Ontario will also economically grow and recover from the loss during the pandemic. On the contrary, IRCC needs to look at another perspective. Looking at it the other way round, giving more immigration control to Ontario reflects an uneven distribution for the rest of Canada. The ongoing efforts to widen the immigration system throughout Canada will go neglected.
PNP aims to increase the number of immigrants in provinces and territories rather than letting them immigrate to larger cities.
PNP was launched in 1988 and before its launch, there were very few federal programs and economic class programs in Quebec. The programs largely contributed to the growth of British Columbia, Quebec, and Ontario.
IRCCs proposal of PNP has significantly impacted Canada’s Atlantic provinces and Prairies due to the massive development in their economies.
Ontario has had a considerable share of immigrants already immigrating here. If the federal government agrees to further provide it with more power the percentage will increase drastically, making it difficult for other provinces and territories to get their share of immigrants. As a result, the economy of these provinces and territories will only weaken.
IRCC will have a tough choice to make concerning Ontario’s request. However, the most suitable solution to the challenge will be to continue increasing the immigration levels across Canada with an equal opportunity to attract newcomers to each province and territory.
This solution will not only align with each jurisdiction but also help Canada in maintaining a more comprehensive distribution level throughout Canada.
