Premier meetings were held in Victoria and British Columbia, with the point of discussion being the skilled foreign workers.
The unemployment rate in Canada lowered to 4.9 percent and consequently, there is an acute labor shortage.
The aging population in Canada is likely to retire soon, and the birth rate is extremely low due to the labor shortage in the country. Immigration appears as a significant solution to addressing the Canadian labor shortage.
450,000 new permanent residents will likely come to Canada as decided by the Immigration Levels Plan 2022-2024. Few provinces have also predicted that the estimate is less likely to solve the labor shortage issue.
Ontario’s immigration minister also stated that the province of Ontario will need to have twice the number of immigrants already coming to Canada. 9,000 applicants were selected through the Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) and the distribution has increased to only 9,700 in 2022.
Immigration as a combined effort
A shared jurisdiction is available for federal, provincial, and territorial governments concerning immigration. All provinces and territories in Canada consist of a bilateral agreement with IRCC on evaluating the number of immigrants emerging in Canada as an economic class.
The premiers agreed to the suggestion of having more power in deciding the selected immigrants. Ontario’s premier wished to have as much power as Quebec since this province controls 90 percent of the immigrants who belong to the economic class.
The premier meetings are held yearly to address the common challenges they face. They unanimously decide the possible solutions and even demand enhanced resources from the federal government. Canada comprises ten provinces and three territories. Therefore, the premiers suggested to the federal government eliminate the potential obstacles preventing international students from acquiring the support programs.
However, there are specific recommendations on behalf of the premiers that will smoothen the natural flow of skilled labor into the provinces.
Encouraging international students to remain in Canada
International students are seen as assets to Canada and they have the potential to assist Canada in balancing the labor shortage. But they might face challenges associated with attaining the work permit. Therefore, the premiers suggested to the federal government eliminate the potential obstacles coming in the way of international students from acquiring the support programs.
The federal government must closely align with the provinces and territories to improve the PGWP. Their primary objective is to let international students meet the requirements of the local workforce. The idea will be to provide a smoother process to move to permanent residency.
PGWP makes it possible for the graduates to live and work in the country for three years once they complete their education. Eventually, they will also be able to apply for permanent residency.
Extending the Provincial Nominee Programs
Generally speaking, the provinces have minimum control over selecting skilled immigrants from abroad who could match perfectly with a specific province.
The premiers have demanded adequate resources to ease the process of permanent residency applications for those who have received a provincial nomination.
According to the Immigration Levels Plan of IRCC, there is only a limited space for skilled immigrants. As per reports, Ontario’s provinces believe they require more control and power over the number of immigrants coming to the province. They would like to see the immigrant’s number rise significantly.
If the number of immigrants rises and more control is given to the provinces over their selection then they will ensure that the skilled immigrants match up to the needs of the labor force.
Enhanced collaboration is expected between the federal government and the provinces to ensure that multi-year plans are carried out to stay at par with the ever-increasing demands of the provincial labor requirements.
Proper management of backlogs and overcoming delays
According to the provinces and territories, the processing time of immigration applications proves to be one of the most significant challenges prevalent today. This delay in the application process leads to more difficulties in welcoming talented people across the globe. The federal government has identified its need to improve the standard processing time. As a result, the government even introduced a task force to solve the existing critical problems of the immigration system and even build long and short-term strategies to eliminate them.
Solving the credential recognition challenge
Even with the availability of skilled workers who currently live in Canada fail to work in the country due to a lack of Canadian credentials or accreditation.
Provinces wish to work with the federal government’s regulatory bodies to systemize the immigration process in a way that can fetch the required accreditation for skilled workers to meet the occupation standard in Canada.
